Outsiders
by Rachel Carter McKenzie
Summary: Sure we all know that Ryan ends up in Newport but who was in his life before that? finished
1. The house

She sat there looking around for them. She turned her head and looked over and saw, well she still didn't know what to call him, a friend, brother, step brother, foster brother?, they were just in the same foster care house together not blood related so they weren't technically related in anyway, but she saw him sleeping on the couch. He was a year older then her but they were really close. The two of them over the past three years have gotten close and protective over one another.

They met when Rachel entered the orphanage at the age of 10 after her dad was arrested for child abuse. Her mom had died when she was six and apparently there was no family that stepped up to take care of her. She then met Ryan at dinner that first night there. He was 11 and he was there because his dad was in jail and his mom and her boyfriend abandoned him. From then on they become really close and when they were together they were inseparable.

They have been in and out of different foster houses, some times they were together and sometimes they were separated. They hated when they weren't in the same house. This house they wanted to make work because they got sick of moving and changing schools. But that might not happen with this house either.

She turned around and continued looking out the window for their foster folks to come home. She knew these folks were only in it for the money, they all were. Anyway they were late again. Probably out drinking and partying. At least in this house they didn't get beat up. In past houses they got roughed up for even breathing wrong. She hated those but usually he would stick up for her and get the beating instead of her. She felt so bad when that happened but for the past six months there was no fights or beatings.... yet. But the partying has been going on more and more and the 14 and 13 year olds were left alone a lot. Sure they could watch themselves for a night but lately they have started to go out but not come back for a few days leaving no money or food for them.

She looked at the clock. It was 3am. They haven't been back in over 24 hours. And when they did come back it was only for an hour to shower then they left again. It was like that all week She left the window and curled up next to him and fell asleep.

"Hey, Wake up." She heard someone say to her. She recognized the voice and opened her eyes. She saw the sandy haired blue eyed boy looking back at her. He was about 5 foot 6 inches tall. She was about 5 foot 2 at the age of 13 with brown hair and hazel eyes. She saw his worried eyes.

"Hey." She said sleepily then noticed the concern on his face. "What's wrong Ryan?"

"They still aren't back yet and the agency keeps calling asking for them. I think they might come get us soon." Ryan said distressed also making her feel scared. She didn't want to go back to the orphanage cause who knows they might be separated again. Just then they heard a car pull up. "Rachel stay back and let me check it out." Ryan said and went to the window. Rachel looked on in curiosity and fear not knowing if it was the agency or not. Ryan looked back at her and sighed.

"It is ok. They are back." He said and they both sat on the couch waiting for them to enter. Ryan put his arm around Rachel protectively. They watched the two "adults" walk in to the house and they looked smashed.

"What are you two still doing up?" Elaine asked.

"It is 10am in the morning." Ryan stated simply.

"Oh well then good morning!" Joe said and they knew he was still drunk.

"The agency has been calling for two days. They will come to get us if you don't call them back soon." Ryan said again softly.

"We will call them later we need to rest first." Elaine said stumbling back to the bedroom with Joe close behind. The two teens looked at each other and then looked around the apartment.

"We better clean up a bit. Just in case." Ryan said and Rachel nodded and they set to work.

Ryan was right. A few hours later some people from the agency came knocking at the door. Joe and Elaine were still passed out in their room. They were able to clean up enough to make it look decent and clean themselves up a bit even though there was no clean clothes left. They put on clothes that looked the least dirty.

"Hello." Ryan said answering the door.

"Hi Ryan. May we come in?" The lady they knew as Mrs. Jenkins asked nicely. She was with two men in uniform. He nodded and opened the door to let them in. Rachel was sitting on the couch just watching. Both noticed that Mrs. Jenkins was looking around to make sure the place was clean.

"Where are the Moores?" She asked.

"They are still sleeping." Ryan said not bothering to lie.

"At this time of day? It is nearly 3 in the afternoon." She said in a bit of shock. She began to walk down the hallway toward the bedroom with the two men and two teens following. They wanted to see what was going to happen. But they had a feeling they knew what was next.


	2. The Visit

Mrs. Jenkins opened the door to the bedroom and walked in. The four other people close behind. The Moores were still passed out on the bed.  
  
"Mr. Moore wake up." she said in a loud voice but they didn't stir. She said it again louder and Joe opened his eyes.  
  
"Don't yell I can hear you." He whispered holding his head. "Mrs. Jenkins what are you doing here?" he asked looking around the room at the five people now standing there. Ryan and Rachel were standing toward the back just watching.  
  
"You didn't answer the phone. All we got was the machine so it is procedure to come and check up on the children." She said curtly. She could tell he was hung over. Elaine was now semi conscious.  
  
"What's going on?" she asked.  
  
"Mrs. Jenkins is here to check up on us cause we didn't answer the phone." Joe said filling her in.  
  
"This is unacceptable. These children need looking after and you can't do that if you are hung over and sleeping all day." Mrs. Jenkins said angrily. "Please get up and dressed and meet us in the living room." she said more as a demand rather then request. She and the two men walked out of the room. Ryan and Rachel looked down then at the Moores. They looked upset. Ryan and Rachel then left the room to go to the living room. Once there Mrs. Jenkins started to ask them questions.  
  
"How many times has this happened?" She asked them as they sat on the couch. The two looked at each other.  
  
"Not that much." Rachel said speaking for the first time since Ryan woke her up.  
  
"How many times a week is not that much?" she asked again.  
  
"Not often." she turned around to see it was Joe that answered.  
  
"Mr. Moore I was asking the children." She said annoyed.  
  
"I know who you were asking. I am telling you what's up." He answered back.  
  
"With foster children in your care you can not get drunk and pass out. These children need care." She said her face showing how much she was angry. Ryan and Rachel were caught in the middle again.  
  
"I can assure you it won't happen again." Elaine said calmly. "The children will be looked after."  
  
"You better make sure of that. Next infraction, these children will have to be taken out of your care." She said then turned back to the teens. "Now if t his happens again or if you feel you are unsafe please call me." She stated calmly and Ryan and Rachel nodded knowing that they wouldn't be calling.  
  
"I am putting this in your file. Anything else happens the children are gone." She said and motioned the guys to follow her and she left. Joe went over to close the door. Rachel huddled over to Ryan. They were both scared they were going to be hit because of that little visit. But instead Joe sat on the couch and leaned back and put his hand over his head.  
  
"I'll go start dinner." Elaine said and went into the kitchen. Ryan and Rachel sat there unmoving. Not really sure what to do or what was coming. Joe took his hand away from his eyes and looked at the teens and saw that they were scared. Ryan had his arm across Rachel as if he was scared they were going to be attacked and Rachel held his arm probably thinking t he same thing.  
  
"I'm not going to hurt you. It wasn't your fault that we went out and got drunk." he said realizing that the kids were probably hit or beaten in similar situations before. "Don't worry about anything go and get cleaned up." He said softly. The two started to get off the couch and stood up slowly.  
  
"We don't have any clean clothes" Ryan said softly not looking up at Joe.  
  
"Oh. How long were we gone?" Joe said confused.  
  
"You guys were gone on and off for about a week." Ryan said softly.  
  
"Really?" Joe said shocked. "Ok I will get the laundry and take it to the laundry mat." He said getting up and heading to the bed room. The two did know how to do the laundry but since there was no washer in the house and no money and no way for them to get to the mat, they couldn't do it themselves.  
  
Rachel and Ryan were relieved. That was the first time a meeting like that happened where they didn't get hit. They looked at each other and thought this place might work out after all. 


	3. Home not so sweet home

A few weeks went by and everything was going well but one night the Moores went out and said they would be back soon. But they would be gone for four days. The third day into their disappearance Mrs. Jenkins came by.  
  
"Where are the Moores?" She asked. Ryan told her that they should be back later because they went shopping. So she said she would wait. She wound up waiting all night and most of the next day.  
  
"Some shopping trip huh. Go pack your stuff and be ready to go." She said to the two kids. They got up and went to their room and began to pack.  
  
"And I thought maybe this would work out." Rachel said to Ryan.  
  
"I was hoping it would too. We might not be together next time." He said looking up at her. She didn't reply and just kept packing what little clothes and stuff they had. They then walked back out to the living room.  
  
"Ready to tell me how long they were really gone?" Mrs. Jenkins asked. Ryan and Rachel looked at each other. Ryan shrugged.  
  
"Four days." He sighed. Mrs. Jenkins mouth hung open in shock.  
  
"Ok. Let's sit and wait for them to come back." She said and turned on the TV for them to watch. Although they were looking at the TV, neither of them were really watching it.  
  
At 7 that night the Moores finally walked in to see not only Mrs. Jenkins but also the two men that were there the first time.  
  
"Nice to see you can join us. You have been gone for four days, which means the children are coming with me and you will be brought up on charges for child endangerment." She said and stood up and Ryan and Rachel stood up each grabbing their suitcase.  
  
"Wait....we..." Joe tried to explain.  
  
"I don't want to hear it. You lost your chance." She said. "Come along children." She said and the two looked at the Moores both upset that this couldn't work. The Moores tried to stop them but the men held them back.  
  
"We're sorry!" Elaine tried but to no avail they were gone and that was the last time they would see each other.  
  
Back at the orphanage Ryan and Rachel were separated, Girls in one-wing boys in another. They didn't bother unpacking at least with their stuff in a suitcase it was least likely to be stolen. They met up again in the mess hall for dinner.  
  
Later that night Mrs. Jenkins had come to tell Ryan that his mom had come back. She had proved to the court that she was clean and sober and had gotten rid of her boyfriend. She convinced them that she learned from her mistake and really wanted her boy back. Ryan was confused about this but he was happy she came back. Rachel on the other hand was not so happy. He was going to leave and not come back.  
  
------------------------------ A few months later and another home. After Ryan had left she was in the orphanage for a few weeks but then was shipped off to another foster home. She could tell that Mrs. Jenkins and the staff were sick of trying find a permanent home for her but it was their job. The home she was in, the Johnson's, now wasn't all that great. It was a 2 bedroom apartment and the people had two kids of their own already a girl and a boy and both were older then her. They didn't like her too much and she wasn't quite sure why. So she kept to herself. She also figured out why they wanted a foster kid. Not only was it free money but it was slave labor as well. She had to do the chores that the other two didn't want to do as well as going to work at Mr. Johnson's business. The town junk yard. Most of the time she wondered how Ryan was doing.  
  
--------------------------  
  
"What do you want to eat mom?" Ryan asked his mother that morning.  
  
"Anything." She replied lazily from the couch. Ryan just nodded then looked over at his brother Trey who was blankly watching TV then went to find something. There wasn't much in the house.  
  
When he first went back to live with his mom it was good. He had new clothes and his mom was working and there was food. But they say old habits die hard. With in two months she had gone back to using drugs and drinking. Trey was stealing to get money for his own drug habit and Ryan knew it was a matter of time before Tray got him involved too. He didn't report it to children's services about it because he didn't want to go back there even though he did wonder how Rachel was doing.  
  
---------------------------  
  
Rachel's 14th birthday was spent working in the junkyard. No presents, no cards and no phone calls. She had gotten used to not getting anything for her birthday or holidays but it didn't hurt any less. She was going to call Ryan but she realized that she didn't have his number, if he even had a number. She was just about to take a shower when the girl, Jessica, tossed her out.  
  
"I get the bathroom first." She said shoving Rachel out of the bathroom and closed the door.  
  
"You stink don't you shower?" Jacob snapped. She glared at him.  
  
"Well I would if your sister didn't push me out of the bathroom!" She yelled back. "Don't yell at me! You're just a part time nuisance here!" He said back pushing her into the wall. Her head hit the wall but she stood her ground.  
  
"Don't touch me." She stated firmly. H looked at her and laughed.  
  
"What are you gonna do about it?" He said and pushed her again. She pushed him back with strength that she didn't know she had. His back hit the wall on the other side of the hallway. He was stunned for a minute but then came after her. She ducked out of the way and he missed his hands hitting the wall where she was moments before.  
  
"What the hell is going on here?" Mr. Johnson yelled.  
  
"She is causing trouble!" Jacob said before she could say anything.  
  
"I am not! You started it!" Rachel yelled back.  
  
"That's enough!" Mr. Johnson yelled. "For causing trouble you are going to clean this house top to bottom tomorrow." He said looking at Rachel. She glared at him.  
  
"I didn't do anything!" She yelled and he slapped her across the face causing her head to toss to the side. Tears threatened to fall but she wouldn't give them that satisfaction. She looked back up at Mr. Johnson definitely. This only made him angrier. He slapped her again and then pushed her to the ground. He kept hitting her. She groaned in pain. After a minute or two she heard Jacob speak.  
  
"Dad, I think that she got the point." He sounded worried which surprised her but she was in too much pain to think straight. She passes out from the pain.  
  
-------------------------  
  
For Ryan's 15th birthday his mom actually made him a small cake. But that was a good as it would get. The next day he found out his mom had gotten back together with AJ.  
  
"Mom how could you be with him? After all he has put us though!" Ryan yelled at his mom. He then spoke softly. "After what he has done to me? How can you take him back?"  
  
"Don't you talk to me like that!" She yelled back then said "We need him He brings in the money."  
  
"Yea, we need him to beat me up and to support your drug habit." Ryan mumbled then walked out side slamming the door behind him. He saw Trey coming up the walkway. "What's going on little brother?" He said walking up to him.  
  
"Did you know that she took AJ back?" Ryan said looking up at him.  
  
"I hate to break it to you but they never broke up." He said like it was no big deal.  
  
"What?" Ryan said in disbelief "But he hasn't been around, well since I came back three months ago."  
  
"Where do you think mom goes during the day? Not to work but to go see him."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me Trey?" Ryan asked hurt hat his brother didn't tell him.  
  
"Would it have made a difference Ry?" He said more of a statement then a question. Ryan didn't answer. Trey walked into the house and Ryan just had to get away so he got up and started walking. He had to think and get his thoughts straight. 


	4. Wondering

Ok guys please review...please...lol...Thanks to those who have reviewed and questions that i have been asked will be answered soon in the story hehe..... i like knowing people are reading and are interested... heck even make suggestions :) ok on with the story!  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Ryan continued to walk. He really didn't have a place to go so he just walked. He was angry, frustrated and sad. 'How could she take him back?' he thought to himself. 'Why couldn't she change? Why can't she be clean?' his mind raced with all these questions he couldn't answer. He stopped at a park and sat down on a bench. He watched some kids playing on the grass and he noticed that their parents were teaching them how to play a game. He wished he had parents that cared about him. His thoughts wondered to Rachel. He wondered if she was ok and with a good family. She was the only person that truly cared about him and he cared about her. Sure he loved his mom but that was different. He guessed she loved him too but if she really cared about him then she wouldn't be doing what she is. Ryan sighed. He had no where to go so he headed back 'home'.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"She hasn't woken up in a while." Rachel heard a male voice say. It sounded like Jacob. She tried to open her eyes but she couldn't, she didn't have the energy. She was awake to the extent that she could hear what was going on around her but she couldn't move because of the pain. She had almost forgot what this pain was like.  
  
"I never saw dad flip like that." Jacob said again softly, worried. "He said she will be fine but she looks kinda bad." She was surprised he was worried considering he never cared before.  
  
"She will wake up soon." it sounded like Jessica but un like Jacob it didn't really sound like she cared. Rachel then fell unconscious again.  
  
A while later Rachel woke up and was able to open one of her eyes. She noticed it was day light from the light coming in though the window. She tried to open her other eye but it was swollen shut. She slowly sat up. Pain was all over her body. She groaned. She looked around the room to find it empty she slowly stood up. She grabbed her side immediately after a shot of pain went though it. She slowly made her way across the room to the door. She opened it slightly to hear who was in the house. She didn't hear anyone. She didn't know whether to be happy or upset that they left her alone. She then made her way to the bathroom to try and clean up.  
  
She looked in the mirror and sighed. Her right eyes was swollen shut and was a dark black and blue. She had some cuts on her face and there was dry blood there as well. Telling her that no one bothered to clean her up. She turned on the water and took the face cloth and began to carefully wash her face. She lifted her shirt to find that there were bruises on her stomach, sides and chest. There was also more bruising on her arms and legs. After cleaning up a little she walked back to the bedroom and changed her clothes. She laid back down in her bed she was worn out and in a lot of pain from that little bit of movement. She tried to take stock and see if she could tell if there was any internal bleeding, since she has had it before she could tell what it feels like. She sighed in a bit of relief. She didn't feel anything in the way of internal injuries. She then wondered where the Johnson's had went. She didn't have to wonder long because a few minutes later she heard them enter the house.  
  
She saw Jacob enter the room. "Oh your wake again." he said softly. Something changed in him, he looked nicer. She just nodded and watched him, unsure of what he would do. "You feel ok?" He asked and she just nodded slowly not sure of what was happening. "How long have you been up? I see you got changed."  
  
"Just a few minutes." She said and her voice sounded weaker then she thought it would.  
  
"You were asleep for two days." Jacob said. Then Mr. Johnson came in to the room.  
  
"Look who decided to join us." He said with venom in his voice. She didn't answer and just stayed laying down on the bed. She knew she had to leave this house but was to weak to do it now.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Ryan entered the house to find AJ sitting on the couch watching the tv. He closed the door behind him and AJ looked over from his position on the couch.  
  
"Where have you been you little shit?" he said angrily.  
  
"None of you're business." Ryan said going to walk past him to get to his room. AJ got up and stopped him.  
  
"Don't talk to me like that you piece of shit." he said coming towards Ryan. Ryan stood there defiantly. AJ pushed him and Ryan pushed him back angrily.  
  
"Don't touch me!" Ryan yelled. AJ punched him in the face and Ryan hit the wall. Ryan got his balance and pushed AJ away again.  
  
"You worthless piece of trash!" AJ yelled and hit Ryan again. Ryan again got his balance and ran out of the house. "That's it get out! Run like the little pussy you are!" AJ yelled after Ryan.  
  
"Damn it!" Ryan said to himself. He reached up to his face and he felt his cheek getting swollen and his nose and lip were bleeding. He went around the side of the house and entered his room though the window. He locked the door to make sure AJ wouldn't come in. 


	5. Escaping

A few days went by and Rachel was feeling better. There wasn't as much pain and the swelling in her face went down. Since it was summer she didn't have to worry about missing any school, there fore know one knew about the beating she had took. Johnson had put her back to work yesterday. But she wasn't going to be working tomorrow.   
  
That night she had to wait for everyone else to take shower before her as usual. So she turned on the water that was now cool. She didn't mind though cause it was summer and it was hot so it cooled her off as well as dulled the remaining aches in her body. Once she was done she headed back to the bedroom that she shared with Jacob and Jessica.  
  
"Hey." Jacob said as she walked in.  
  
"Hi" She said quietly and went over to her bed. Jessica just rolled her eyes and went back to her magazine. Rachel threw her jumpsuit that she wore for work in to the hamper then sat on the bed.  
  
"Lights out guys." Johnson said when he came into the room. Jacob and Jessica slid into bed and their father tucked them in and gave them a kiss. He left with out even acknowledging that Rachel was there. As much as she didn't like him, it still hurt that he ignored her. She should have been used to it but she always wondered what it would be like to have a mom or dad tuck her in. She barely remembered what it was like when her mom used to do it.  
  
"Night." Jacob said an Rachel looked over to see that he was looking at her.  
  
"Night." She whispered. She was still confused by his kindness but she didn't have time to think about that now. She wouldn't be sleeping.  
  
It was midnight when she quietly got up and walked open the bedroom sure to make sure that the Johnsons were asleep then she went over and got her bag. She quickly put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Now, she had taken some money from Mrs. Johnson that was hidden in her dresser, about $350. She knew how Mrs. Johnson got the money and she was sure she could get plenty more later. She wished she could tell Mr. Johnson about his wife's lil side job but she knew he wouldn't believe her and probably beat her up again. Sighing, she packed 2 sets of clothes since that was all the sets she had coming here. She then walked out of the room and quietly went out the front door.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Ryan woke up to yelling and he sighed. It was AJ and his mother.  
  
"Welcome back to hell Ryan." he said to himself. He looked over to see that his brother was still sleeping in the other bed. Ryan realized that Trey must have come in the same way he did since the door had been locked. The two boys had gotten good at sneaking into their room when one of their mothers boyfriends had kicked them out. Ryan waited twenty minutes when the yelling stopped before he went and opened the door to his room. He peered out and didn't see anyone down the hall or in the living room so he walked out toward the kitchen to see if there was anything in the kitchen.  
  
"Hey, how did you get in here?" AJ said laying on the couch. Ryan turned around fast.  
  
"Where's my mom?" Ryan asked quickly.  
  
"The bitch went to get some money." AJ said getting up.  
  
"Don't call her that!" Ryan said though clenched teeth.  
  
"What are you going to do about it?" AJ said mockingly. Ryan, remembering the black eye he had decided not to push it further. Instead he turned around and opened the fridge.  
  
"You little pussy I know you don't have the guts to take me." AJ laughed. Ryan was fighting hard not to react. AJ walked up behind him and shoved him. "Come on. You know you wanna hit me." AJ stated. Ryan closed the fridge door and turned around and looked slightly up to meet AJ's eyes. AJ pushed him up against the refrigerator.  
  
"Leave me alone AJ." Ryan said trying unsuccessfully trying to wiggle away from AJ. AJ just laughed then punched Ryan in the stomach. Ryan groaned and bent over in pain. AJ pushed Ryan to the floor and kicked him in his side.  
  
"Hey get off of him!" AJ looked up to see Trey standing there.  
  
"Mind your own business." AJ stated and kicked Ryan again. Trey ran up and tackled him to the floor. Ryan looked up and saw the two men fighting on the ground. Trey punched AJ hard in the head and knocked him out. Trey got up and went over to Ryan.  
  
"You ok kid?" he asked helping him up.  
  
"Yea, thanks." Ryan said walking back to his room. He hit his wall frustrated.  
  
----------------------------------------------------  
  
Rachel walked to and old friends house. She had known him before she was put into the system. It was a long walk and it took her all night and into the afternoon to get there. She hoped he still lived there since it has been a few years. She had nothing to loose so she went up and knocked on the door. 


	6. Old Friend

Rachel knocked on the door and waited. A man she didn't recognize came to the door.  
  
"Can I help you?" He asked nicely.  
  
"Does Nick still live here?" She asked quietly.  
  
"Are you a friend of his?" The man asked.  
  
"Yea we were friends a while back until I moved away. But I am back now." She said not giving him any details.  
  
"I'll get him." He said and went back in to the house. "Nick you have company." He called though the house.  
  
"Be right there." She heard the yell back. His voice was different so she wasn't sure if it was him. She then saw him come out of a room and walk toward the door. As soon as she saw him she knew it was her Nick. He still had the same blond hair and blue eyes, he was just taller now about 6 feet tall. He looked at her and smiled.  
  
"Rachel! What are you doing here?" he said opening the door and walking out on to the porch and giving her a hug.  
  
"I came for a visit." She said smiling.  
  
"Where did you go?" he asked. She looked around.  
  
"Can we talk some where private?" She asked and he nodded.  
  
"Follow me." he said and she followed him around back to the garage. He closed the door behind them.  
  
"You look great." She told him.  
  
"Thanks." He smiled.  
  
"Who was that man back there?"  
  
"Oh, he is my step father. My mom married him three years ago. He is a good guy. He takes care of us." He said. "Not like my dad."  
  
"Yea I remember your dad." She said back.  
  
"How did you get the bruise on your face?" He asked although he knew the answer already.  
  
"Long story." She said.  
  
"I have time." Nick stated and he sat down on an old couch they had stored in there. Rachel sat next to him.  
  
"Well, when I left it was because my dad got arrested for child abuse. They then put me in the foster care system. Which wasn't much better since they didn't do a great background check on these families. They were in it for the money and most of them were just as abusive as my dad was." She explained to Nick. She could talk to him about this since he had been in the same situation as her. He nodded knowingly. "There was one house that I thought would work out and me and Ryan thought we had a home but the couple started to go out and party and not come back for days at a time so they took us out of there too."  
  
"Who is Ryan?" Nick asked confused.  
  
"Oh he is a boy I met in the orphanage before going in to foster. Him and I became real close and sometimes we ended up in the same foster home. But about six months back his mom got clean and she got custody of him back. And I got shipped off to the Johnsons. But I kinda ran away from them last night." she explained.  
  
"I see. That bruise being the reason why." Nick said softly.  
  
"It was worse a few days back. I was out cold for two days and no one bothered to take me to a doctor." She stated.  
  
"Oh man. Where are you going to go?" Nick asked.  
  
"I haven't thought that far yet. I just needed to get away before Mr. Johnson decided to hurt me even worse." She said seriously.  
  
"How much money do you have on you?" He asked.  
  
"350 dollars." She said.  
  
"Wow, where did you get that kind of money?" he asked surprised.  
  
"I kinda took it from Mrs. Johnson." She stated.   
  
"Ok. You wanna come in and get something to eat?" He asked.  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Yea my mom liked you so she will like to see you again." He said and they got up and headed back to the house.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------  
  
Ryan's mom came home and AJ still knocked out on the floor. She looked over at Trey who was watching tv.  
  
"What happened to him?" she asked obviously high.  
  
"He was beating on Ryan so I stopped him." Trey said still looking at the tv.  
  
"My God! And you knocked him out?" Dawn said shocked and a bit angry.  
  
"You're kidding right. You pick him over your own kids?" Trey said getting up now pissed.  
  
"You know he brings in most of the money." Dawn said going over to wake AJ up.  
  
"Yea right." Trey said and left the house. Dawn continued to wake AJ up. Ryan was silently watching from the doorway of his room. She looked up and saw Ryan standing there sadness evident in his eyes. She saw the bruise on his face. He looked down, shook his head and walked back into his room shutting the door behind him. 


	7. Rude Awakening

Nick's mom said it was ok if Rachel stayed with them for a little while. She knew she couldn't stay there forever but she would do anything to help out around the house so she could stay a bit longer. She would do what ever chores that needed to be done.  
  
She wondered about Ryan, she knew his mom lived in Chino she just didn't know where. Nick lived in the next town over so Rachel thought of maybe going over to see is she could find him there.  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
That night after everyone was asleep Ryan wondered out into the kitchen to grab some food. He hadn't eaten all day so he was pretty hungry. He rummaged though the fridge to find not much was there except for a cold pizza. He took out a slice and heated it in the microwave and made sure that he stopped the machine before the buzzer went off at zero. He ate the slice and downed it with some beer and went to bed.  
  
Ryan was woken up the next morning when is door was banged in by a very mad AJ.  
  
"You think you and your brother can get the best of me?!" He shouted angrily. Ryan quickly took note that Trey was not in his bed. AJ ran over and picked Ryan up off the bed by his neck. Ryan grabbed AJ's wrists trying to get him to let go.  
  
"AJ let go!" Ryan said barely above the tone of a whisper. "I can't breath." But AJ didn't let go. With his other hand he hit Ryan in the stomach only then did AJ let go of Ryan's neck. Ryan was then pushed to the ground and AJ kicked him in his side. AJ continued to beat up on Ryan until the boy stopped moving.  
  
"That will teach you to mess with me you no good piece of shit!" AJ said before leaving the room. Ryan laid face down on the floor. He saw AJ leave his room and then he closed his eyes. He needed a hospital but had no way to get there.  
  
Ryan woke up to find he was in a hospital bed. He was confused. 'How did I get here?' he wondered. Last thing he remembered was passing out on the floor. He then took stock on what was wrong with him. He realized he had a bandage on his forehead and his eye felt swollen so it was probably pretty bruised. He also had some more bandages on his arms. He was to weak to rummage around an lift the blanket up to see how bad his body was banged up but he could tell something was hurt because of the pain in his chest and side. He heard the door to his room open and saw a nurse come in.  
  
"Oh good your awake." She smiled.  
  
"How did I get here?" He asked and his voice weaker then he expected. The nurses smile faded.  
  
"Well we were hoping you could tell us that. Another nurse found you laying outside the emergency room." She stated. "You have been asleep for two days." Ryan tried to figure out how he got there. He knew AJ wouldn't drop him off but maybe his mom or brother.... he wasn't sure.  
  
"What's your name hunny? We have been calling you John Doe." the nurse asked.  
  
"Ryan Atwood." he said and then added knowing her next question "and I'm 15."  
  
"Can you tell me who did this to you?" she asked softly as she checked his I.V. Ryan looked away from her. "Do you have anyone we can call?" Ryan scoffed.  
  
"You can try but they probably won't come." Ryan said in all seriousness. The nurse saddened. He was one of those kids that the parents didn't care or were to caught up in their own problems to care. She wouldn't be surprised if a parent did this to him.  
  
"We can't release you on your own. We will have to call children's services if you don't have anyone we can call." she said softly and he looked at her.  
  
"Fine. The number is 555-3849." Ryan said softly. She nodded and wrote it down.  
  
"Ok Ryan. I will see if anyone will come to get you." The nurse said before leaving. Ryan nodded and watched her leave. He knew she wasn't going to just call his house but she was also going to make sure he wasn't abused. She will call the house see if anyone will come down then some cops will come and ask questions. Of course he will say he didn't know who did it and he was jumped when walking home. Staying in the hospital also meant bills. 'I'm so dead. There is no way mom or AJ can pay for the bills. Hell AJ would never pay a cent for me' Ryan thought to himself.  
  
Sure enough about an hour and a half later the nurse came back but to his surprise she wasn't alone. Right behind her was his mom. He tried to sit up but couldn't from the pain in his chest and side. And now he wished he asked the nurse before what was wrong with him.  
  
"I'm sorry baby. I should have been there." His mother said crying a little and coming over to his bed. The nurse stayed by the door. When she got close enough she whispered to him "What did you tell her?"  
  
"Nothing." Ryan whispered back not really surprised by her question.  
  
"Good." She said back. "When can I take him home?" She asked the nurse.  
  
"He was hurt pretty bad. He has a cracked rib and bruised kidney. So the doctors want to make sure he is ok. They want to keep him for another day or two." The nurse explained. Ryan's mother, Dawn, nodded then looked back at Ryan. "I'll be with back with the paperwork." She said and left.  
  
"Come on lets go." Dawn said grabbing Ryans clothes out of the metal closet.  
  
"I can barely move mom." he whispered. She went over and ripped his blankets off him.   
  
"We can't fill out paper work. We don't have money for the bills. Now get your ass up!" she said and put his clothes on the bed. She then grabbed his arms and pulled him up into a sitting position. Ryan took the needle out of the little I.V. plug and slowly put his shirt on.  
  
"Hurry up!" Dawn sneered. Ryan dug though the pain and hurriedly got dressed. He got off the bed and limped over to his mother. "Ok the elevator is right over there." Dawn said pointing slightly down the hall. They looked around and saw the hallway was pretty empty so they headed to the elevator. She pushed the button and it opened right away. They got in and headed to the lobby. Ryan put his hood up so no one would realize he was supposed to stay there. Once outside Ryan saw that Trey was sitting in the car right outside the door. Ryan hopped in the back seat and Dawn in the front. They took off. Ryan sat there in a lot of pain but didn't say anything. Trey looked in the rearview mirror.  
  
"Glad to see you ok little bro." He said full well seeing pain in his brothers eyes. Ryan just nodded. It was going to be a long few days. 


	8. The Car

thanks for the reviews.... please note i will be using lines from the show here and there... more in later chapters though. on with the story...  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
When they got home Ryan was happy to see that AJ wasn't there well at least at that moment. Ryan was about to go lay down in his room when his mom spoke.  
  
"Why the hell did you go to the hospital?" She asked nearly yelling.  
  
"I didn't someone brought me there. Last thing I remember was passing out in my room." Ryan said softly back.  
  
"I brought him mom, he was in bad shape he needed professional help." Trey said speaking up.   
  
"You knew they would ask a load of questions. Now I have to change our phone number because they know how to reach us." Dawn said picking up the phone. "That's gonna cost us some money and you Ryan are going to have to get that money." Dawn said and Ryan knew that meant stealing.  
  
"Why don't ya let him rest up a few days ma? He can't do much hurt." Trey said and Ryan was thankful cause his mom agreed. Ryan turned around and went to his room and laid down, he fell asleep pretty quickly.  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
Rachel knew that it was almost time to go. Even though Nick didn't want her too, she knew that she didn't want to put his mom and step father out anymore.  
  
"Where will you go?" Nick asked.  
  
"I'll find a place. I might go and look for Ryan and see how he is." She said putting her things in her bag. "His 16th birthday is next week. Thought maybe I could surprise him."  
  
"Do you know where he lives?" He asked.  
  
"No...but I can ask around." She said back.  
  
"How do you know he is still in Chino, he might have moved again." He said trying to get her to stay.  
  
"I'll find that out then." She said.  
  
"Just stay here. Please. The folks like you and you don't cause trouble." Nick said pleading with her to stay.  
  
"I..I don't know...I don't want to put you guys out." She said.  
  
"You're not. In fact my mom asked me if you were going to stay here with us for good. She wants you here." Nick said. "We can start school in the fall together." Nick said smiling. She gave in.  
  
"Ok I will stay but I still wanna see if I can find Ryan, I mean his birthday is coming up like I said." Rachel stated and Nick nodded.  
  
"No problem I will go with you." He smiled and Rachel smiled too. It was great to have a place to live.  
  
---------------------------  
  
A week later...  
  
Ryan had healed up well enough and was walking around with little or no pain. Now it was time to get the money that was used to switch the phone number. He asked his mom if he could do it tomorrow since it was his birthday today but she said he had to do it now.  
  
Trey and Ryan walked next to a tan car.  
  
"I'm your big brother if I don't teach you this, Who will?" Trey said and smashed the car window with a tire iron. Ryan flinched away.  
  
"I don't know about this Trey." Ryan said.  
  
"Stop being a baby and get in!" Trey yelled. Ryan hesitated. "LET'S GO RYAN!" He yelled again and Ryan slammed the door and went around the other side. He looked up to see a cop car pass and the back up. The siren was turned on. "RYAN GET IN!" The car started to move and Ryan hopped in and they took off with a cop car in hot pursuit. Soon there were three more cop cars behind them.  
  
"Watch out!" Ryan yelled and the car swerved and the side of the car slammed into a wall.  
  
"Get your hands up! NOW!" An officer yelled from outside and the two boys put their hands up. They were lead out of the car and handcuffed. The police patted each boy down and found that Trey had a gun and some drugs in his pants. Ryan looked at Trey as they were put in to separate cars and Trey just shrugged. 


	9. Lawyer and searching

Hi guys... from this point on as you noticed in the last chapter I used some lines from the show... more lines from the show will be used in here.... I am claiming right now that I got the lines off the TV from fox's showing. Which took a little time, ok a lot of time lol and I had to watch the episode over and over lol but hey what ever works right? Thanks and enjoy!  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
The next day Rachel and Nick went out to see if they could find Ryan. They have been trying for a few days with little luck. She missed his birthday but wasn't going to give up. They went around asking in various stores if they knew of Ryan or his mother. Many said no but a few said they had come in from time to time. They were hoping that they could find one person that knew where he lived. After a long day of searching they decided to call it a night.  
  
"We will try again tomorrow." Nick said putting his arm around Rachel. She nodded and they walked back in to the house.  
  
"I'm going to take a shower." She said and he nodded and went in to get some dinner. He hoped they would find Ryan soon. Nick could tell she missed him a lot.  
  
-----------------------------------  
  
Ryan walked into the visiting room with his hands handcuffed. He saw a man in a suit sitting at the table. The man rose as he saw Ryan come in.   
  
"Ryan. Sandy Cohen. The court's appointed me your public defender." The man stated. The officer un-handcuffed Ryan then Ryan sat down. "You could do worse. You okay? They treating you all right?" Sandy asked.  
  
"Where's my brother?" Ryan asked.  
  
"Uh, Trey is over 18. Trey stole a car; Trey had a gun in his pants, an ounce of pot in his pocket, a couple of priors. I'm guessing right now, Trey's looking at three to five years. But Trey's not my concern. This is your first time in lockup. I'm assuming you don't plan on coming back. Your grades…are not great. Suspended twice for fighting, truancy three times…your test scores, 98 percentile on your SAT I? Ryan, 98 percentile, if you start going to class, are you thinking about college?" Sandy asked looking up at Ryan. Ryan chuckled and Sandy continued "Have you given any thought at all to your future? Dude. I'm on your side. Come on, help me out here." Ryan looked around the room then at Sandy.  
  
"Modern medicine is advancing to the point where the average human life span will be 100. But I read this article which said Social Security is supposed to run out by the year 2025, which means people are going to have to stay at their jobs until they're 80. So I don't want to commit to anything too soon." Ryan stated matter-of-factly. It was Sandy's turn to chuckle.  
  
"Look, I can plead this down to a misdemeanor. Petty fine, probation. But know this; stealing a car 'cause your big brother told you to, it's stupid, and it's weak, and those are two things you can't afford to be anymore." Sandy said in all seriousness. Ryan looked at him then looked away.  
  
"Two more things"  
  
"Do you want to change that? Then you have to get over the fact that life dealt you a bad hand. I get it. We're cut from the same deck, Ryan. I grew up, no money, bad part of the Bronx. My father was gone; my mother worked all the time. I was pissed off. I was stupid." Sandy said tying to get though to Ryan.  
  
  
  
"And look at you now." Ryan said flatly  
  
"Smart kid like you. You got to have a plan. Some kind of a dream." Sandy said desperately. Ryan snorts.  
  
"Yeah, right. Let me tell you something, okay? Where I'm from, having a dream doesn't make you smart. Knowing it won't come true…that does." Ryan states. Sandy is able to get Ryan released and t hey walk out of the juvenile detention center together.  
  
"My office will contact you to remind you of the date for your hearing." Sandy says and Ryan looks at him.  
  
"I'll remember." he says. Then a car come screeching up the driveway and stops in front of Ryan. A very angry woman gets out.  
  
"Unbelievable! What kind of family I got, huh? What the hell did I do to deserve this family? You want to tell me that?" The woman yells. It is Ryan's mom, Dawn. Sandy is in shock at first but composes himself.  
  
"Mrs. Atwood? I'm Sandy Cohen. I'm Ryan's attorney." He states and Dawn yells back at him.  
  
"You should've let him rot in there. Just like his dad's doing. Just like his brother's gonna." she looks at Ryan "Let's go Ryan. Now, Ryan!" She yells and gets in the car. Sandy pulls out a card and writes on it.  
  
"I'm going to give you my card. My home number. If you need somebody, if things get to be too much, call me." He said and handed the card to Ryan. Ryan just nodded.  
  
"Let's go!" Dawn yells. Ryan glances at his mom.  
  
"All right!" He yells and gets in.  
  
--------------------------------------------------------  
  
Nick was a little worried about Rachel since she didn't get out of bed all day. She said she wasn't feeling well. He must admit that she didn't look well but he couldn't help but think it was also because they haven't found Ryan yet. They must have been closer then he originally thought. He knew how she felt because he felt the same way when she left. He decided to talk to his step-father since he has done some business in Chino before.  
  
He walked into the living room to see his step-father, Jim, watching TV.  
  
"Hey Jim." Nick said and Jim looked up.  
  
"Hey Nick. What's up?" he asked noticing something was on Nicks mind.  
  
"I was just wondering if you have ever worked or heard of the Atwoods?" Nick asked. Jim thought a minute.  
  
"The name sounds very familiar. Is that the last name of that kid you guys have been looking for?" Jim asked and Nick nodded. "I think I might have worked with one. What's the kids name again?" he asked.  
  
"Ryan Atwood." Nick stated. "Rachel really misses him, they really got close over the past three years." Nick said and Jim nodded listening.  
  
"I'll ask at John at work Monday. He has records of everyone we worked with." He said and Nick smiled.  
  
"Thanks Jim that means a lot." Nick said and Jim smiled back.  
  
"No problem. She is a good friend of yours and you were kind of the same way when she left. your mom told me all about her." Jim said filling Nick in on what he had known for a while. "It was months before you cheered up again. I couldn't help you but we can try to help her right?" He said smiling a little. Nick nodded.  
  
"Yea and even if you don't have any luck we can keep looking. Thanks again Jim." Nick said and got up. "I'm going to see how Rachel is doing." Jim gave a quick nod and went back to watching TV.  
  
Nick walked in to the dark bed room to find Rachel sleeping in bed. He flipped on the lights and went over to her bed.  
  
"Rachel. Get up." He said gently. She didn't stir. He tapped her shoulder and shook her a little bit. "Wake up." he said and she began to move.  
  
"What is it?" She said quietly and with only one eye open.  
  
"You need to get up and move around. You can't just lay here all day." Nick said sitting on the bed.  
  
"Nick, I really don't feel to good. I don't want to move." She said quietly again. Nick reached up and felt Rachel's forehead. She felt really warm to him. "Can you get off the blankets? I am cold." She said to him.  
  
"What is hurting you?" Nick asked now realizing that Rachel was really sick.  
  
"My head, stomach, thought, and my body aches." She said again still quietly. Nick got up.  
  
"I'll get you something." He said but she was already asleep. Nick sighed and turned out the lights. He then headed out to the store to pick up some cold medicine.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
OK I hope you liked that chapter. Feel free to add suggestions. I am open to it :) more coming soon! 


	10. Get Out

ok say it again I don't own Ryan or any other characters from "the OC" and the lines are from the show. The only thing in this story I own are Rachel, Nick, and the other people I made up. Also since this is fiction lol NOT everything will happen in the same order as on the show.... just FYI ....so enjoy!  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Back at Ryan's house.....  
  
"I can't do this anymore, Ryan. I can't." Dawn says lighting a cigarette.  
  
"I'm sorry, Mom." Ryan says looking down.  
  
"I want you out of my house. I want you out!" Dawn yells angrily. Ryan looks up in surprise.  
  
"But Mom…where am I going to go?" He asks desperately.  
  
"You heard your mother, man. Get your stuff and get out." AJ, Dawns boyfriend said from the couch.  
  
"Hey, this isn't your house, man." Ryan said looking over at him.  
  
"Oh, you're a tough guy now?" AJ said getting up and going over to him.  
  
"A.J., don't. Ryan, just get out." Dawn cut in but Ryan kept going.  
  
"Why don't you worry about your own kids, A.J? Instead of freeloading off my mom!" He said which didn't sit well with AJ and he lashed out and punched Ryan.  
  
"Hey!" Dawn yelled but went un noticed. Ryan goes to punch A.J., but A.J. hits him again.  
  
A.J. pushes Ryan to his room, where he packs his bag and leaves on his bike. Ryan went to a pay phone and tries calling some friends to see if anyone could help him out for the night. None of them will take him in. Ryan sighs and pulls a card out of his back pocket and dials the number. As Ryan waits, Sandy pulls up in his car.  
  
"Told you. You could do worse." Sandy says as he pulls up. They put Ryan's bike in the trunk and they head back toward Sandy's house.  
  
"This is a nice car. I didn't know your kind of lawyer made money." Ryan states looking around the car.  
  
"No, we don't. My wife does." He says with a slight smile. They drive up to Sandy's house and Ryan goes to exit the car but Sandy stops him.  
  
"Um, you know, why don't you wait here for a minute? I'll be back." Sandy says and grabs the keys and hesitates, realizing what he did. He looks at Ryan who looks back.  
  
"It's no fun if the key's in the car." He states and Sandy puts the key back into the ignition and exits the car. Ryan sat there and waited. He played with the buttons on the radio trying to kill time. But he knew that Sandy hadn't told his wife that they were going to have a visitor. That made him feel even weirder being there then he already did.   
  
'Her husband bringing home a juvenile delinquent oh that should fly well' Ryan thought to himself. Ryan waited until Sandy came back out to tell him he could come in. Sandy came out moments later and he lead Ryan though the house and out though the back.  
  
"I hope ya don't mind but we set up the pool house for you." Sandy said.  
  
'It is better then sleeping on the street' Ryan thought to himself. "Yea it's fine" Ryan said back.  
  
"It will have everything you need. It has a kitchen and a bathroom with a shower." Sandy stated and Ryan thought 'Must be a big pool house.' They walked in and Ryan saw two women making the bed.  
  
"So, this is where you'll be staying, and this is the queen of the manor herself, my wife Kirsten." Sandy said smiling a little.  
  
"Hello Ryan. Welcome to our home. If you need anything, Rosie here can help you." Kristen said and there was a moment of awkward silence.  
  
"Thank you. Thanks very much." Ryan said quietly. Kristen nodded then Sandy spoke.  
  
"We'll see you in the morning. Make yourself comfortable." Then Sandy, Kirsten, and Rosie left, leaving Ryan alone in the room. The next two days would change Ryan's life.  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
Rachel spent that weekend sick in bed. Although she did try to get dressed and leave so she could try again to find Ryan. Nick's mom, Jane, spotted her and prevented Rachel from leaving.  
  
"You can't go out. You are too sick and I know how much you want to find your friend but you can do that when you get better. Ok?" She said sweetly and Rachel sighed and nodded. She was feeling kinda dizzy. "Go back to bed and I will bring you some soup." She said and Rachel walked back to the room she shared with Nick. 'Good thing he still had his bunk bed' She thought to herself and climbed into the bottom bunk 'otherwise there would be no place for me to sleep.' For some reason they had kept the bunk bed even though on the other side of the room there was a full size bed that Nick slept on. But Rachel was grateful that they kept his old bunk bed. She snuggled into the blankets sitting up against the wall and a few minutes later Jane came in with a bowl of soup and some tea on a tray.   
  
"Here you go. There is some medicine here for you as well." She said handing the pills over to Rachel. She took them and swallowed the pills.  
  
"Thank you so much." Rachel said to her.  
  
"You're welcome. You're sick you need this so it isn't a problem." Jane said brushing a hair out of Rachel's face.   
  
"I mean for everything. Letting me stay here and everything. Thank you so much." Rachel said looking from the soup to Jane.  
  
"It is no problem honey, you are a good friend to Nick and a good kid. You didn't deserve what those foster homes were doing to you." Jane said "and your a great help around the house." She said then smiled and winked at Rachel. Rachel smiled back. "Now eat up so you can get well." She said and kissed her forehead and let the room.  
  
'So that's what it's like to have a mom that cares.' She thought to herself and smiled. As she ate she wondered why Children's Services hadn't been looking for her yet. 'Huh they are probably happy to be rid of me.' she thought but it didn't matter. She had a place here. 


	11. The prep party

Thanks for the reviews! Again there are a lot of lines from the show... I may have changed a few of them up so it wouldn't run my story long for no reason lol and also so it will fit in with my story. Also this chapter will concentrate more on Ryan considering Rachel is sick :-P. some one asked about rachels place in the story... she is Ryans friend as said in the first few chapters. Enjoy!  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Ryan woke up the next day and stepped out of the pool house and looked out at the view. 'So this is what it is like to be "Livin large"' He thought to himself as he scanned the view of the ocean and coast line of Newport. He walked in to the main house to see a kid about his age sitting in front of the TV playing video games.  
  
"Hey." The kid stated.  
  
"Hey." Ryan said back.  
  
"Wanna play?" The kid asked. Ryan nodded and went over, sat down and began to play. He was beaten at the game very badly.  
  
"Oh, looks like someone's trying to be a hero, but he got a little cocky. X O X O. It's an unbeatable combination. Oh! Oh! Oh…! What happened to your head, dude? Where did it go? I'm sorry. Did someone die?" The kid gloated. Ryan still didn't know his name. "Oh, hey, do you want to play Grand Theft Auto? It's pretty cool. You can, like, steal cars and…not that that's cool…or uncool. I don't know. Um…" the kid rambled obviously he was filled in on his little car incident this morning by Sandy. Just then Sandy walked in.  
  
"I see you two have met. Seth, what are you doing inside on this beautiful day? Why don't you show Ryan around?" Sandy said. 'Seth. Ok I know his name now.' Ryan thought.  
  
"Yea like there is so much to do here dad." Seth said sarcastically. "Is there something you want to do?" He asked Ryan. Ryan shrugged.  
  
"What do you guys do around here?" He asked. next thing he knew he was out on Seth's mini boat. 'This is kinda cool.' Ryan thought. He had never really been to the beach before never the less on a boat. Seth was rambling on about a girl named Summer. He listened and smiled inwardly. 'This kid is kinda cool. A little weird but cool.' After a while they brought the boat back to shore. Sandy had come down to greet them.  
  
"Hey guys. Have fun?" He asked. The boys nodded. "Come on we gotta get ready for the fashion show." He said. Ryan was confused and Sandy noticed it. "The ladies of Newport put together a fashion show for charity and we are all going. Even you Ryan." Ryan wasn't to sure about that. He gave sandy and 'I don't know about this' look. "Come on it will be fun."  
  
"I don't have nice clothes for that." Ryan stated.   
  
"Don't worry I am sure we have plenty of suits." Sandy said. "Come on lets go get ready." Then the three of them walked back to the house.  
  
A half and hour later Ryan was showered and dressed standing in front of a mirror trying to do his tie. He got frustrated cause he couldn't tie it and decided that he wouldn't wear it. He stood there looking at himself. 'Never thought I would be wearing a suit' he thought. He heard someone knock on the door and looked past himself in the mirror to see it was Sandy.  
  
"Wow, look at that. Fits you beautifully. Where's your tie?" Sandy said walking over to him.  
  
"I'm not going to wear one. Open collar. It's a good look." He said tugging had his suit jacket. sandy smiled a bit.  
  
"I didn't know how to tie a tie till I was 25. Come on. Give me your tie." He said and Ryan handed it to him and proceeded to explain how to tie a tie. Once he was finished he followed Sandy out to the car. Ryan was a bit nervous. He was going to a place he really didn't belong and he just wanted to go back home where at least he knew what was what. He didn't know what to do or how to act so his plan was to just stay quiet and out of the way.  
  
When they had gotten to the house where the show was being held he saw everyone talking to one another about how much money their respective companies were going to make.  
  
"Welcome to the dark side" Seth said sarcastically from behind him. Ryan walked two steps before he had a woman come up to him. She asked, obviously flirting, if he was the cousin from Boston and then she said she couldn't live there cause of the cold. Then another woman asked if he liked Seattle and if all the rain was depressing. A third asked if she heard correctly and if he was from Canada. He replied with a "yes you did" . 'Wow word travels fast when someone new enters their world.' Ryan thought. He went to the bar and asked for a seven and seven. He took a sip then Kristen came over to him. He gave her a half smile and looked down at the glass. He handed it over to her.  
  
"Thank you. I want my husband to be right about you." She said with a small smile and walked away. Ryan spots Seth and walks over to him. He sees a guy taller then Seth standing next to him.  
  
"Hey. Yea suck it queer." The guy said and Ryan didn't like that to much and made sure that when the guy walked away he bumped into him. He gave the guy a glare.  
  
"Yea Luke my vacation was great. Thanks for asking." Seth said sarcastically. 'This is going to be a long night.' Ryan thought to himself. Through out the party Seth kept pointing out Summer to him. Ryan noticed that Summer and her friend, Seth told him her name was Marissa, would look over at them too every once in a while. He liked the Marissa girl. He hoped to get to know her better later.  
  
Ryan was walking out to the front of the house when Summer came up to him.  
  
"Hey. Where you going? My friend, Holly…well, her parents are letting use their beach house as a gift, you know, 'cause of all our hard work for charity. If you need a ride…or…anything. I'm Summer.." She said then walked away with her friends over to a jeep. Ryan went to go find Seth.  
  
"Hey, you ready to go?" Seth asks  
  
"Yeah. We should, uh, go to that party at that girl Holly's place." Ryan states.  
  
"Uh, yeah, no, that's all right." Seth says  
  
"Summer…invited me." He says looking over at where Summer is.   
  
"Really? She did?" Seth asked a bit surprised and a little hurt. Ryan sees this and covers.  
  
"Us. She asked for you, actually."  
  
"Really? She did?" he said again and they both looked over to the jeep.  
  
  
  
"Come on!" Summer yells  
  
"That makes absolutely no sense, but, yes, we should go." He turns to the people he was talking to before "We're going to go with them. Thanks, guys." They walk to the jeep and get in. Ryan watches as Marissa gets into her boyfriend's truck.  
  
"If it sucks, we can always bail…" Seth states and Ryan nods and then smiles.  
  
----------------------------------------------  
  
A little less action in that chapter. More action to come in latter chapters. Keep reviewing! Thanks!!!! I have 2 more chapters written after this ready to go but you know what they say...lol..update every few days to keep people interested....and the questions everyone are asking will be answered as the story goes on... promise! 


	12. The Beach Party

DUN DUN DUN! the party.... You know... from the show...haha... dude i promise that after the set up it will get more interesting! This is From Ryan's perspective so the convos in the show that we saw...won't be posted cause Ryan didn't hear those. Hope that made sense lol  
  
--------------------------------------------------------  
  
The jeep pulls up to the party and the boys get out. Ryan walks in with Seth close behind.  
  
"Welcome to the dark side." Ryan said repeating what Seth said before. The look around the party and notice kids doing drugs.  
  
"Oh, hey…cocaine. That's awesome." Seth said sarcastically and they walk through the party. Ryan spots the girl he saw at the fashion show, Marissa and she is with Summer and a couple of other girls. He saw they were talking but couldn't hear what they were saying over the music.  
  
"Is that a new purse?" Summer asks.  
  
"Yeah." she smiled  
  
"So cute." Says the girl next to Summer.  
  
"Does you dad ever say no?" Summer asks envious. Then they spotted Ryan.  
  
"Hey…look who I brought." Summer states.   
  
"He's cute." the other girl says.  
  
"I'm going to play him hot and cold." Summer states with a mischievous smile. "You want to pee? I got to pee." She said and the girls left. Ryan had found out though Seth on the way to the party that Luke, the boy who was giving him problems was Marissa's boyfriend. Ryan spotted Luke when the girls walked away but was wondering why he was talking to another girl. Ryan went to get a beer and when he saw Luke leaving with the other girl toward the water he took a mental note of it. He then headed back into the house.  
  
"Hey." Ryan looked up to see Marissa. He pulled out a half smile.  
  
"Hey." He said back.  
  
"So, what do you think of Newport?" She said taking a drink.  
  
"I think I can get in less trouble where I'm from." He said and smiled.  
  
"Hey Coop! It's your turn to deal." a girl said waving playing cards.  
  
"You have no idea." She said walking away. Ryan watched her walk away and laughed to him self. Ryan walked outside, Summer sees him and walks over to him.  
  
"Look…who I found." She said and he knew she was drunk. She started to touch him then spilled her drink on him. She started laughing "Oops. I'm wasted." She then starts hanging onto him. "So, what's your name anyway?"  
  
"Ryan." He said trying to push her off of him. Seth then comes over and he too is two sheets to the wind.  
  
"Ryan, you got to come um…what are you doing?" He asked. Ryan could tell he was upset at what he saw. He finally got Summer off of him.  
  
"Hey um…" Ryan stumbled.   
  
"Excuse me?" Summer said annoyed.  
  
"What are you doing? I named my boat after her." Seth said angrily. Ryan went over to Seth.  
  
"What? Eww…who are you?" Summer said laughing.  
  
"It's not what you think. She's a little bit drunk, okay?" Ryan tried to explain.  
  
"Come on, Ryan." Summer said behind him. Seth pushes Ryan and starts to walk away, Ryan went after him.  
  
"Seth…Seth Seth!" He called. Seth turned around when Ryan grabbed his arm. He pushed Ryan in to a door. Marissa watching the whole scene.  
  
"Don't touch me!" Seth yelled. "You know what? Why don't you go back to Chino? I'm sure there's a really nice car in the parking lot that you could steal." Seth said angrily and took off towards the beach.  
  
"Chino? Eww." Ryan heard Summer say but he just went back into the house. Everyone was staring at him and whispering. He turns back toward the window and watches Seth. He was throwing something in to the fire when he saw a couple of guys go over to him and they started pushing Seth around. Ryan hurried down to help him. He don't know why he is doing it. He guessed he felt bad for the kid. As he ran up to help he heard some of the words exchanged.  
  
"Go home, geek." One guy said.  
  
"Who invited you?" the other said.  
  
"You guys really wouldn't hurt me, because that would be so clichéd." Seth says but the guys pick him up. "I guess you're fans of the cliché." Seth said and is held upside down.  
  
"Shut up." one of the guys said. Ryan made it to where they were.  
  
"Hey hey! Put him down! Put him down." Ryan said looking at the two boys then at Seth still hanging upside down.  
  
"Hey Ryan. What's up?" Seth said sounding as if he forgot about the fight he had with Ryan just moments before.  
  
"Put him down." Ryan stated again.  
  
"Hey, what's up, dude? You got a problem?" Ryan looked over to see Luke walking his way.  
  
"You tell me." Ryan stated as Luke steps closer to Ryan and pushes him. Ryan instantly punches him and Luke falls to the ground. He gets back up and shoves Ryan to the ground, and they start fighting. After one of the other guys joins in, Seth pulls him away and hits him and the guy punches him back. Seth falls to the ground. Luke's friend pulls Ryan away and Luke kicks him.  
  
"Welcome to the O.C., bitch. This is how it's done in Orange County." Luke yells down at Ryan. After a few minutes the two boys get up and leave the party. Calling a cab to get them home since they were not only drunk but also had no ride home. Ryan and Seth walk into the pool house, both bruised and tired. Ryan sits on the bed as Seth collapses on to the couch.   
  
"Well, I…I don't know what to say…except that you totally had my back out there. We're, like, in a fight club or something. I don't know. You know what I think? Ryan, I think that if you were to teach me some moves, I think that we could totally take em next time. That's what I think. Give them some of that" Seth said to Ryan then kicked the air. "You know what I'm saying? And a little bit of that and that" and he did a double kicking motion. "What do you think about that?" The to boys clasp hands. "Yeah. Oh also, that wasn't exactly the way that I first planned to talk to Summer, but I am now on her radar. Do you think I should tell her about Tahiti? Do you?" Seth said rambling and Ryan smiled a little.  
  
"Not yet." Ryan said  
  
"That's what I thought. That's what I was thinking. I wanted to make sure, we were on the same page." Seth said laying down on the couch and getting comfortable.   
  
"Quite a little night we had there. I'm not going to forget it. Ryan, I'm not going to forget that one." Seth says and Ryan smiles a bit and looks over at Seth and notices that he is already asleep. Ryan takes off his jacket and heads outside. He hears car doors and looks over the balcony to see Summer and another girl carrying Marissa to her house. She is passed out. He watches with great interest.  
  
"I can't believe her." Summer giggled  
  
  
  
"I swear to God, she is so retarded sometimes." The other girl said  
  
  
  
"Shouldn't her boyfriend be doing this?" Summer laughed again.  
  
"He's so worthless." the girl said back. They fall to the ground and start laughing.  
  
"Coop, where are your keys?" Summer whispered. "How are we going to find her keys?" She grabbed Marissa's purse and starts digging through it. "I can't find her keys." she stated.  
  
"We can't wake her parents. Her dad'll go ballistic." The girl said  
  
"I know, I know." Summer says and throws the purse aside and stands up.  
  
"Bye, Coop. Call us." Summer said leaving Marissa lying on the cement and Ryan goes to where she is.  
  
"Hey." Ryan whispered and he grabbed her purse. "Get your keys." He looks in her purse, but can't find the keys, so he carries her inside Seth's pool house and lays her down on the bed. He hovers over her for a second before covering her with a blanket and staring at her. He then makes a place for him to sleep on the other side of the room. He, like Seth falls asleep fairly quickly.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
It was Saturday night and Rachel and Nick were sitting in the living room playing super Nintendo, yea it was a bit out dated but it worked non the less. It also got Rachel out of bed for a little while. She was still feeling a bit sick but she couldn't sleep anymore and she loved hanging out with Nick. He was like the brother she never had. She really hoped that Ryan was in a home that was treating him well. She hoped his mom really changed. 


	13. Leaving and the Hockey Game

Ryan woke up to see that Marissa is no longer sleeping in the bed he'd set her in the night before. Then he heard the door to the pool house open and Seth's mom walk in.  
  
"Thank God." She said and Ryan put his head back down and tried to get the sleep out of his eyes. Seth waved slightly from his place and slowly sits up. Kristen walks over to Seth and notices the bruise on her sons face.  
  
"What happened to your face?" She yelled. Both boys winced at the loudness of her voice since they both had headaches.  
  
"Mm. I got into a fight." Seth said laying back down.  
  
"With who? Why?" She asked still angry.  
  
"I don't really know. I don't really remember. Um…I was really drunk. Yeah, I think I still am a little bit." He stated  
  
"Let's go. House. Now." She said and dragged him into the house.  
  
"Later!" Seth yells waving to Ryan. Ryan sat up and rubbed his head. He knew he was a goner. He got up and dressed. Then he packed his stuff and headed into the main house. The kitchen was empty so he decided to cook breakfast to try and soften the blow from the night before. Ryan knew that if he never said to Seth that he wanted to go to the party then Seth wouldn't have gotten hit and Kristen wouldn't have been mad. He was looking out the window when Kristen walked back into the kitchen.  
  
"Look, Ryan, I don't mean to play bad cop. It's nothing personal…" She trailed off and noticed Ryan had been cooking. Ryan walks over to the stove. "Is that bacon?" She asked him.  
  
"I usually make breakfast at my house. My mom's not much of a cook, so…" Ryan stated and brought the bacon over to the table.  
  
"I'm sorry. You seem like a really nice kid." Kristen started but Ryan stopped her.  
  
"It's okay. I get it." He grabs his things. He looked at her. "You have a really nice family." He said before leaving the room. He walks up to Seth's bedroom and sees he is in bed sleeping. He knocked on the wall and Seth stirs.  
  
"Hey, man." Ryan says as Seth sits up.  
  
"Hey."  
  
"Hi. So…I gotta jet." Ryan says avoiding eye contact.  
  
"You're leaving? So…hmm…so, what's up?" Seth says and Ryan can tell he is still hung over.  
  
"I got to go back. Try to figure some stuff out back home." Ryan said still avoiding eye contact for long periods of time.  
  
"Okay Well…cool. Or…not cool, but, you know…what I think I mean." Seth said stumbling for words. Ryan held out his hand for Seth to shake but instead Seth pulls him in to a hug.  
  
"Come here. I'll come down to Chino. You know, I'll visit you and you can show me your world. Or your hood or…" Seth stops rambling and laughs.   
  
"All right." Ryan said and turned to leave but Seth stops him.  
  
  
  
"Wait a second. Just wait one second. Hmm." He walks over to his desk, grabs a map, and hands it to Ryan. It's a map of the Pacific Ocean. "Maybe there's some place you want to go. It's pretty good for ideas." Ryan thinks for a second and then slaps Seth in the face with the map.  
  
  
  
"Ah!" Was Seth's reaction and Ryan chuckles softly and leaves the room.  
  
Ryan and Sandy get in the car. They back out of the driveway and Ryan sees Marissa waiting in her own driveway. She watches as they drive past her and Ryan turns back to watch her as he leaves. Luke pulls up to pick up Marissa and Ryan turns back around in his seat. The rest of the ride is quiet. Neither knew what to say to the other. Soon after, Sandy pulls up in front of Ryan's house.  
  
"So, thanks. For everything." Ryan says before he gets out of the car.  
  
"I'm going to make sure everything works out, Ryan." Sandy says Reassuringly. They get his bike out of the trunk and Ryan starts walking up the walkway.  
  
"It's okay. I can take it from here." Ryan said wheeling his bike up to the front porch. He sets his bike down and unlocks the door. Ryan wasn't really prepared for the site he saw. The house was empty. All the furniture was gone. He ran around the house looking for anything but nothing was there. Not even his things. He walks back into the kitchen to see a note on the counter. His mother left him a note. She just abandoned him. Tears threatened to fall but he held them back. His own mother abandoned him. He figured that he would be gone for the weekend but she would have cooled down and he would come back. He never thought she would really leave him. He heard a voice from behind him. It was Sandy.  
  
"Come on. Let's go." Sandy said to Ryan after watching for a few minutes. Ryan grabs his bag and they leave the house together.  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
Rachel woke up Sunday morning feeling a lot better then the day before. She knew she would be well enough tomorrow to start the search for Ryan again.  
  
"Hey Rachel. How ya feeling?" Nick asked coming into the kitchen. Rachel started laughing at him. "What?" He asked confused. Nick had just woken up so all his hair was sticking up on end. It was quite adorable.  
  
"Look in a mirror lately?" She asked still laughing. He Was still confused then went into the bathroom. He emerged a few minutes later with his hair combed.  
  
"Better?" He smiled and she nodded and took a sip of the tea Nicks mom made for her. He sat down and asked her again. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"I'm doing better. I should be good to go by tomorrow. Your mom still won't let me out yet." She said and he laughed.   
  
"That's my mom for you." He laughed.  
  
"I'm not used to all the fuss." She stated. "Usually I take care of myself and do things I need to do." She then took a bite of some oatmeal. Nick didn't respond. He knew where she was coming from. Until his mom met Jim and he helped her get her life back and took to Nick as he was his own son, no one cared if Nick was sick or not. There was a silence. Which was ok cause Rachel knew that Nick understood.  
  
"Oh hey! I got something for ya!" Nick said smiling. Rachel looked at him questionably.  
  
"You didn't have..." she started but Nick cut her off.  
  
"I know I didn't but I wanted to." He said. "I know how you like hockey so I found at a game store NHL 97 for super Nintendo!" He smiled pulling the game out of his pocket.  
  
"That is so cool!" She exclaimed. Taking the game and looking at the box.  
  
"Yea when we are done eating we can go play since you can't go out yet." He smiled.  
  
"Thank you so much! This is great!" She said happily. No one ever bought her a gift before. She was so happy. It was 11 in the morning when they started playing. Nicks mom and Jim came home at about 5 that afternoon and they were still playing the game.  
  
"How long have you guys been playing that thing?" Jane asked putting some bags down. She knew Nick got the game for her the day before.  
  
"I don't know since about 11 I guess." Nick replied with out looking away from the game. Jane laughed. "There is nothing else to do. Rachel can't go out yet." Nick said then stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth in concentration. Jane and Jim went to put the bags of things away and began to make dinner. An hour later Jane called in from the kitchen.  
  
"Kids! Dinner!"   
  
"Be right there mom we are in the middle of the Stanley Cup game." Nick yelled back. "We are tied 3-3 and in over time...next goal wins!" Rachel and Nick were both banging on the key pad trying to score the winning goal. Two minutes later the winning goal was scored.  
  
"SCORE!!!!! RANGERS WIN!" Rachel shouted.  
  
"Aw man! How the heck did you score! I am never going to be the Kings again!" Nick yelled back laughing.  
  
"Sure blame the Kings." She laughed.  
  
"Ok kids come eat." Jane said smiling after watching the scene. The two walked past Jane still talking about the game and Nick wanting a rematch. She was glad to see that Rachel was feeling better and that Both of them were happy. Things were defiantly getting better for her family. 


	14. Confused and Disneyland?

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!! IT MEANS ALOT! Ok... to make this story get to the point...some parts that are non important will be skipped lol and since this is fiction i am gonna start changing the story up muhahahahaha.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Kirsten was surprised when Sandy had returned to the house with Ryan. Sandy explained why Ryan was back and even though she felt for the boy, she still didn't want him to stay. They looked out the window to see Seth and Ryan floating on rafts in the pool chatting it up.  
  
"We need to find his mother." Kirsten said taking a sip of coffee.  
  
"I have someone at the office trying to track her down." Sandy stated. He went on to tell her that if he couldn't find his mother then he would be put into foster care till he was 18. He might be adopted but at his age it would be really hard to place him and he would probably end up in a group home.   
  
Later that night Ryan signed the paper saying he didn't have a parent around to take care of him and that he was yet again part of the system. Seth was really pissed off. He yelled that they had a ton of room and why couldn't Ryan stay with them? Ryan responded with 'It's ok.' and retreated back to the pool house.  
  
Once in the pool house Ryan just looked up at the ceiling. He was part of the system again. He would love to stay here with the Cohens. Seth was a cool kid once you got to know him and it would be cool to actually have a family that care about you. But he also knew Kirsten didn't like him to much.  
  
The next morning Ryan was woken up by Sandy.  
  
"Yea?" Ryan asked confused. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and realized it must be time to go so he got up. "I'll be ready to go in five minutes." he said looking down about to walk away but Sandy stopped him.  
  
"Hold up Ryan. Sit down for a minute." He said calmly. Ryan was confused but sat back down on the bed. "We got a call today. We found your mom." Sandy said looking eye to eye with Ryan.  
  
"Where is she?" He asked not really sure what to think.  
  
"Right here." Came a voice from behind him. Ryan turned around to see his mother standing there. Ryan shot up to his feet quickly. Yet he didn't move after that. He had to much anger and confusion in him to move. Why would she leave him then come back? She moved slowly over towards where Ryan was standing.  
  
"Why did you come back?" Ryan asked angrily. The quickly asked, "Why did you leave?" He was so confused.  
  
"Ryan, I left cause I couldn't bare to see you fail." Dawn said moving closer to Ryan but Ryan only moved backwards. Dawn stopped. Sandy watched the scene quietly from the corner of the room.  
  
"What?" Ryan asked wondering what the hell his mother meant by that.   
  
"You are the smart one, the good one, so when you got arrested I couldn't bare to see you fail. I was so young when I had your brother and now he is to far gone but with you, I always thought that you would become someone but when you were arrested i knew I failed again and i couldn't bare it. I'm sorry. Will you ever forgive me?" Dawn finished. Ryan who had crossed his arms over his chest trying to protect himself in a way, just stared back at her. He didn't know what to say.  
  
"What about AJ?" Ryan finally asked softly.  
  
"I left him. He laid his hands on me.....and on you too many times." She said trying to reach out to her boy. He pulled back.  
  
"So this is AJ's fault?" Ryan spat angrily.  
  
"Can't we start over? One step at a time?" Dawn asked desperately. Ryan looked away from her not sure what to say. She sounded sincere.  
  
"I don't know mom. I mean you left me a note...a note!" He said with tears threatening to fall.  
  
"I'm so sorry baby. AJ..." She began to say but caught herself. "I shouldn't have done that. I am so sorry." She was crying now. Ryan hated to see her cry. He didn't know why that he still cared about her so much after all she did to him.  
  
"Ok mom. Stop crying. Please." Ryan said going over to her. "One step at a time." He sighed and hugged her. She quieted down. That's when the two people realized Sandy was still in the room. Ryan looked away. "I am going to go get dressed." He said grabbing some clothes and heading to the bathroom. In the bathroom he listened for Sandy and his mother. He heard them walk out and back into the main house.  
  
Ryan didn't know what to do. These past few days have been so confusing for him. First he was kicked out, then he was here, then he was supposed to be back in the system and then his mother came back. He wondered what she really wanted. If she really wanted to mend things with him or if she needs something out of him. He sighed and finished getting dressed. This was going to be a long day.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
Rachel woke up the next morning with the intent on going out and looking for Ryan once again. What she didn't know was that Nicks mom had other plans.  
  
Rachel walked dressed into the kitchen and saw everyone was up and dressed as well. They exchanged 'Good Mornings' and had breakfast.  
  
"How would you kids like to go to Disneyland today?" She asked smiling. Nick and Rachel looked at each other.   
  
"I was gonna go look for Ryan again." Rachel said.  
  
"You can do that tomorrow. Come on it will be fun!" She exclaimed still smiling. Rachel couldn't help but smile too. She had never been to a park like that before.  
  
"Ok sure lets go." She said and Nick agreed. Jim had to work so he wasn't going to come. He reassured Nick that he was going to ask around at work about the name Atwood which Nick thanked him for again. With in a half an hour they were on their way to Disneyland. 


	15. Left again, new home

Please review! I need your feedback! Like I said before this is fiction so I will change the story up to fit my needs lol....enjoy! oh and 2 chappies today!!!  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Rachel screamed as the roller coaster went down the big hill. She was wondering how she was ever talked on to this thing. Oh yea, Nicks puppy dog look. She couldn't say no to it and now she was on this thing. But she had to admit it was fun. The coaster came to a stop and her and Nick got off to go find his mom.  
  
"Wasn't that the best?!" Nick said excitedly. Rachel laughed at his excitement.  
  
"After that first hill yea it was great." she laughed  
  
"The first hill is the best part!" Nick exclaimed. and threw his arm around her. "Dude we have to go on that one!" He said pointing at ride called Free Fall.  
  
"Um... I donno about that." Rachel said looking at a structure that went up about 15 stories in the air and a little cage dropped down from it really fast.   
  
"Aw come on." He whined. Rachel laughed at him.  
  
"Hey kids having fun?" Jane asked coming up from behind them.   
  
"Yes!" They both exclaimed in unison and then laughed.  
  
"I want Rachel to come with me on that." Nick said to his mom pointing to Free Fall.  
  
"Are you nuts?" Jane laughed.  
  
"That's what I was thinking!" Rachel said and laughed.  
  
"Party poopers" Nick said and stuck his tongue out. Which caused everyone to laugh.  
  
"Nickolas Don't whine." Jane laughed.  
  
"I Don't Whine." Nick said in a whining voice. They laughed again as they made their way over to another ride that wasn't Free Fall. Rachel was glad they came. At first she really wanted to look for Ryan but it isn't every day that she came to a place like this. What was one more day going to hurt. She was going to have fun.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Ryan and his mom had just gotten back from a walk on the Pier and some shopping. Ryan thought maybe this could work.  
  
"Hey Kirsten." Ryan said noticing Kirsten sitting by the pool.  
  
"Hey how was your day?" she asked.  
  
"It was great." Dawn replied then looked at Ryan. "We should be heading out soon." She said.  
  
"Why don't you stay for a while. Tonight is Vegas night!" Kirsten said. Ryan was kinda surprised that she asked them to stay.  
  
"Oh..I have nothing to wear for that." Dawn said.  
  
"I am sure we can find something." Kirsten smiled and lead Dawn up to her bedroom.  
  
Later that night Ryan was washing dishes. He was almost fully dressed for the party.  
  
"We have a dishwasher. You don't have to do that." Sandy laughed.  
  
"We never had a dishwasher so I'm used to it." Ryan said with a half smile.  
  
"So how do I look?" Ryan looked up from the dish to look where his mothers voice came from. He smiled when he saw her.  
  
"You look great mom." He said. She was wearing a black dress and her hair was straight. She looked beautiful.  
  
An hour later they walked in to the party.  
  
"Are all their parties like this?" She asked Ryan.  
  
"Just about." He replied. She laughed. They began to play the games and Ryan was worried that his mom would gamble to much and she told him it was for a good cause. It was a charity event but still he knew she didn't have much to spare. Ryan spotted Marissa and Dawn noticed it.  
  
"Go hang out with your friend." She said.  
  
"You sure?" He asked.  
  
"Yea I don't need you to babysit me. I'll be fine." She said. He smiled a little and went over to her. They began to talk and hang out. About an hour later Ryan heard his mom yell at someone. He looked over just in time to see her run into a waiter. Ryan knew she was drunk.  
  
"Oops. Must be these heals." She slurred. "Well is someone gonna help me up?" She asked angrily. Ryan saw Luke go over and help her up. That's when Ryan broke out of his thoughts and went over to his mom.  
  
"I got it. Thanks." He said to Luke then Sandy got the Dawn's other arm. They lead her out of the hall.  
  
"I ruined your night, I'm so sorry." She said to Ryan.  
  
"It is ok." He said.  
  
"No it's not. I bet you hate me." She said drunkenly.  
  
"I don't hate you mom, I love you." He said.  
  
When they arrived back at the house Sandy and Ryan laid Dawn on Ryan's bed in the pool house. Ryan sat there and looked at his mom. He was angry with her for going back to drinking. He wondered why she couldn't change but he knew that would never be answered. Eventually he drifted off to sleep on the platform next to his bed.  
  
Ryan woke up the next morning to see his mom wasn't in bed. He sat up and looked around. He spotted her talking to Kirsten outside. He got up and walked slowly over to the glass door. It looked like she was going to leave again. He opened the door and stepped out. Both women looked at him. Dawn waved at him and he lifted his hand and waved back. She then walked inn to the house and out the front door. He was in shock. She was walking out on him again. He put his hand down. Next thing he knew Kirsten was standing next to him. He looked at her.  
  
"I'll go get my stuff." He said. "I'll be ready to go in 5 minutes." He turned to go back into the pool house but Kirsten stopped him.  
  
"Ryan, you're not going anywhere." She stated. Ryan looked at her confused.  
  
"What?" He asked softly.  
  
"We want you to stay with us. We want you to be apart of this family." Kirsten said smiling softly. Ryan couldn't believe what he was hearing. Ryan was confused. This w as the same woman that didn't want him here to begin with.  
  
"But I thought you didn't want me here?" He asked softly looking down. Kirsten moved closer and lifted his chin with her finger. He flinched at first but met her eyes.  
  
"That was before I got to know you Ryan. You're a good kid and I am sorry I judged you before I got to know you." She said sincerely.  
  
"It is ok. I am used to that." Ryan said back truthfully. Kirsten frowned a little.  
  
"It isn't ok because it wasn't fair. Seth told me how you stuck up for him in that fight. You're a good kid." She repeated "And I would love for you to stay here." She smiled at him and Ryan couldn't help but smile back. "Come on lets tell Sandy and Seth." She said and led him back into the kitchen where Seth and Sandy were making breakfast.  
  
"Hey. Where's Dawn?" Sandy asked.  
  
"Ryan is going to be staying with us from now on." Kirsten said. Sandy looked at Ryan who was semi looking down and smiling.  
  
"Wow that's awesome...I mean ...no yea that's Awesome!" Seth said happily. Sandy smiled. "Come on lets go talk about...stuff!" Seth said and walked in to the den and Ryan followed. He turned to face Kirsten and Sandy and smiled.  
  
"I'll unpack later." he said then went in and sat on the couch and listened to Seth babble about Summer. But he over heard Sandy and Kirsten in the kitchen.  
  
"You know there is a no return policy." Sandy said.  
  
"I know and that's fine." Kirsten said. "He's a good kid." Ryan smiled again. He didn't remember the last time he smiled this much but he didn't want it to end. 


	16. School

Ok I don't know the name of Ryan's dad so I am using the name dave... if you know Ryan's dads first name let me know and I will change it lol also I don't know of many towns in Cali to the high school Rachel and Nick are going to... I took the name from my high school lol  
  
-----------------------------------------------------  
  
After they got home from Disneyland, Jim came up to Nick and Rachel.  
  
"Hey guys." He said and they greeted him back. "I have some good news." He said  
  
"What is it?" Nick asked.  
  
"Well, turns out we did business with a Dave Atwood about 9 years ago." He started and the teens listened on. "We had an address from Fresno but I found out he is now in jail." Rachel shook her head in agreement knowing that part. "His wife and two kids don't live there but I made some calls and got their last known address in Chino." Jim said handing Rachel the piece of paper. She smiled.  
  
"Thanks so much!" She said happily.  
  
"No problem but they may not live there any more. That's just their last known address." Jim said in seriousness. Rachel nodded knowing that he was right but at least they had a house now.  
  
"Thanks again I will go tomorrow." She said.  
  
"As long as Nick goes with you. That part of Chino isn't very safe." Jim said and Nick agreed to go with her. The two teens realizing that they were tired headed off to bed.  
  
------  
  
The next day Rachel woke up and got dressed. She looked over to see Nick still sleeping and then she looked at the clock. 10:13am. She walked over and shook Nick.  
  
"Hey Nick." She got a groan in response. "Come on nick I want to go to Chino. Please get up." She asked softly. Nick turned over and opened his eyes.  
  
"What time is it?" He asked.  
  
"After 10." She stated.  
  
"Alright give me a few minutes to get something to eat and we can go." He said and got up. Rachel went into the kitchen as he got dressed and made some cereal. with in 15 minutes they were out the door.  
  
It took them about a half hour to get to Chino by bus. They got on another bus to get to the street they needed to be on. Once they got off that bus they walked about two blocks until they came to the house. It had a chain link fence around it and the yard was over grown. There was tires and junk in the front yard. She and Nick walked up to the front door and knocked and got no answer.   
  
"Maybe they are out." Nick stated. Rachel spotted a window and walked over to it.  
  
"Yea out for good." She said. Nick looked in the window. There was nothing in the house. all the furniture was gone and the house was left with some empty cans and papers on the floor. Rachel sighed and tried hard no to cry. Nick put his arm around her.  
  
"I'm sorry. We will find him." He tried to sound encouraging. She didn't say a word. She didn't trust herself to speak for fear she would break down. They started to head back to the bus. It was a long ride home.  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
Two weeks later school had started. The Cohen's got Ryan in to a good private school. The Harbor School. Ryan had told them he didn't mind going to public school. But they wouldn't hear of it. Ryan also didn't like the fact that they were paying his tuition. He got all of his classes and realized he was already behind. Seth forgot to tell him about summer reading. He sighed as he sat in the pool house trying to finish his homework. He wanted to do well this year. He didn't want the Cohen's to be disappointed in him. This feeling was new to him because no one used to care if he did well in school or not and many times he had skipped school.  
  
Ryan was interrupted by his thoughts when Sandy knocked on the door. Ryan turned and looked at him.  
  
"Come in." He said putting down the pen and watched as Sandy sat down.  
  
"How's it going Ryan?" He asked pointing to the books.  
  
"Slowly. I am so far behind already." He said with ha half smile and Sandy smiled back.  
  
"I was wondering if you were thinking of doing any after school activities?" Sandy asked. Ryan shook his head 'no'.  
  
"I haven't thought about it. I mean I already have a lot of work I think an activity would cause me to get behind." Ryan stated.  
  
"It would be fun and you can get to meet some of the other kids." Sandy said and Ryan groaned inwardly. 'Yea like I want to converse with the rich snob kids that live here.' he thought to himself. "Have you ever played any sports?" Sandy asked.  
  
"I used to play soccer." Ryan said shrugging.  
  
"That's great! You should try out for the team." Sandy suggested and Ryan thought about it. 'It might not be so bad. It is something other then home work.'  
  
"Ok. Yea I guess I could do that." Ryan smiled. Sandy smiled too.  
  
"Great! I would love to go to your games."  
  
"You would come to my games?" Ryan asked. When he played when he was younger no one cared so no one came.  
  
"Yea! I have to support my boys!" Sandy said not realizing what he had said. Ryan smiled.  
  
"Ok." Was all he said.  
  
"I'll let you get back to work. Dinner is in a hour." Sandy said and left Ryan alone. 'He called me his boy.' Ryan thought. He smiled wider and went back to his work.  
  
------------------  
  
"How was school today kids?" Jane asked as Nick and Rachel came though the door. It had been a week of school and Nick and Rachel had 4 of 9 classes together which was great considering that this was a new school for Rachel it was nice to have a friend with her. They enrolled Rachel in school under Nick's last name. They didn't want childrens services to find out where Rachel went after she ran from the Johnsons. Rachel didn't mind it made her part of their family even more. She was now Rachel Carter and fine with it.  
  
"It was fine mom." Nick said and put his bag down. Rachel put her bag next to his.  
  
"Have homework?" she asked.  
  
"Yea." The teens said in unison.  
  
"Get to it." Jane said to them. They both groaned and Jane laughed. "Sooner you get it done the sooner you can play." She said and Rachel and Nick looked at each other.  
  
"We don't play mom. We are almost 16! kids play." Nick said matter-o-factly. Jane laughed.  
  
"I don't care what you call it just get the home work done then you are free for the weekend." Jane said. The two teens picked up their bags and headed to the bedroom to do their work.  
  
"There is the first soccer game next weekend. You want to go?" Nick asked as they took out their books.  
  
"Sure. Sounds like fun." Rachel said looking forward to having a somewhat normal school life with out being bounced from school to school because of changing foster homes.  
  
----------------------------  
  
"Pass it! Pass it!" The coach yelled and the boy passed the ball to Ryan and Ryan kicked it in the net. "Good job!" The coach yelled. "Ok hit the showers!" He said and the team ran towards the locker room. The coach stopped Ryan on the way in.  
  
"Good job Atwood. Welcome to the team. You can pick up your uniform after you get changed. First game is this weekend. Saturday 3pm. We are playing Newfield high. See you tomorrow at practice." The coach said as he turned and left the field. Ryan smiled and jogged to the locker room to get changed. Then he left to meet Sandy in the parking lot.  
  
"How did it go?" Sandy asked.  
  
"I made the team." Ryan said smiling a bit.  
  
"That's great! When is your first game?"  
  
"Next Saterday at 3." Ryan said.  
  
"Great! I'll be there." Sandy said and drove home.  
  
-------------------------------------  
  
The week went by pretty fast. Rachel was adjusting to the new school and was making some friends. She couldn't wait to go to the soccer game because she had never been to one.  
  
"Who are we playing today?" She asked Nick on the way to the game.  
  
"The Harbor school." He stated.  
  
"Are they good?"  
  
"Yea. Very good. They are all rich kids that can afford the best training equipment." Nick stated.   
  
"Oh." Was all she said as they pulled in to the parking lot. She had no idea how good this day was going to get. A surprise awaited on the soccer field. 


	17. Reunited

I went on a writing frenzy and wrote 3 chappies in one day 2 were posted at once... but I had to leave something for you haha.... oh and something big is going to happen and I am not going to tell you when or what it is but you will have to keep reading to find out...haha I'm evil lmao  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Nick and Rachel found some seats in the bleachers and chatted with some other classmates. The teams had not yet taken the field. They noticed the other teams fans coming in and they could tell those people apart because of the clothes they were wearing. Hell some of them even up a cloth over the bleacher so they wouldn't have to sit on it. Rachel, Nick and some friends got a good laugh at that. But Rachel spotted 3 people, a woman and two men, wearing Harbor t-shirts looking for a place to sit and what made them stand out was that they didn't walk or act like the rest of the Harbor fans. They found a spot a few rows down from them. Her thoughts were interrupted by the cheer of the crowd and she looked over to see Newfield take the field. She cheered as well. Paying no attention to Harbors team who was also now on the opposite side of the soccer field.  
  
The game started and Rachel watched with interest and Nick explained some of the rules. Now the bleachers were pretty close to the field. Only about 10-20 feet back from t he side lines so they had a good view of the players. The ball went out of bounds and she saw a kid from Harbor come over to the sidelines to throw the ball back in.  
  
"Oh my God." She said.  
  
"What?" Nick asked.  
  
"See that kid throwing the ball in?" she asked and Nick nodded. "Well that's Ryan!" She said in shock.  
  
"No way!" Nick said back. "You never said he was rich."  
  
"He isn't. I don't get..." She was cut off when she heard someone yell.  
  
"GO RYAN!" She looked to see it was the woman who she spotted earlier.  
  
"What is it?" Nick asked.  
  
"Those people there know Ryan." She said pointing to the 3 people. Rachel looked back at the field just in time to see Ryan pass the ball to another boy and he shot it in for a goal. The home crowd groaned.   
  
"Nice play Ryan!!" The boy yelled and Ryan looked up and waved to the people. He was smiling.  
  
"I am going to move down closer to those people." Rachel said.  
  
"Why?" Nick asked.  
  
"Maybe I could talk to them. See how they know Ryan." She said and Started to move down the bleachers. She heard Nick follow her. She was able to get a seat a bout five feet from them. She was suddenly nervous. She sat thought the game not saying a word to them. The game was close to ending and she figured to just try and call out to Ryan himself. She went down to where the players left the field and waited. Nick stayed on the bleaches to give Rachel and Ryan some privacy. The horn sounded, Newfield lost by 2 but she didn't care. The home team went in first then Harbor. She saw Ryan getting closer.  
  
"Ryan!" She yelled out and he turned to look at who was calling him. He spotted Rachel and looked in shock. He jogged over to her.  
  
"Rachel?" he said in disbelief. She nodded and hugged him. "Wow how have you been?" he asked.  
  
"I'm good. I am staying with Nick now. You know that kid I told you about." Rachel said and Ryan nodded.  
  
"That's great!" he said.  
  
"How are you playing at Harbor? I mean that's a private school. Is your mom rich now?" She asked and he looked down.  
  
"Nah. I'm staying with a family that is well off. Long story." He stated.  
  
"Atwood lets go! Bus is leaving!" The coach yelled.  
  
"I have a ride coach!" Ryan yelled back and the coach nodded. "Here they come now" He said and Rachel turned to see the same 3 people coming towards them.  
  
"Way to play Ryan!" The boy coming up to him said and gave him a high five.  
  
"That was a great game!" The man said. Rachel looked back and forth between them.  
  
"I want you guys to meet some one." Ryan stated putting his arm around Rachel's shoulder. The others looked on. "This is Rachel. She is one of my closest friends. We were in the same orphanage and sometimes the same foster homes." He said. "Rachel this is Sandy, Kirsten, and Seth. The family I am living with." He finished.  
  
"Wow that's the most I heard you say at one time Ryan." Seth joked. "Nice too meet you Rachel." He said and they shook hands.  
  
"Nice to meet you guys too." She said back and shook Sandy's and Kirsten's hands. Rachel waved Nick over. "I have someone I want you to meet too." she said to Ryan as Nick joined them. "This is Nick. I am staying with him." She said and everyone introduced themselves once again.  
  
"Would you guys like to join us for dinner? I am sure that you and Ryan have a lot of catching up to do." Kirsten asked.  
  
"We don't want to impose..."Rachel started but Sandy stopper her.  
  
"Nonsense. Besides we are getting take out." Sandy smiled. Seth and Ryan laughed and Kirsten tried no too.  
  
"I think we missed an inside joke." Rachel said to Nick and Nick nodded smiling which caused the other 4 to laugh harder.  
  
"So you coming?" Ryan asks.  
  
"Sure why not." Rachel said. "Nick we are going with them." She said not giving him a chance to answer. He just followed the group to their car.  
  
After they got some pizza they had headed to the Cohen's house. Nick had borrowed Sandy's cell phone to call his mom to let her know where we were. As they pulled up Rachel and Nick looked on in Awe.  
  
"This is where you live?" Rachel asked looking at the house. It was huge. Ryan laughed a little.  
  
"I had the same reaction." He said and Rachel say Sandy smile in the rear view mirror. They got out of the car and Nick helped with the pizza. When they walked in to the house Nick and Rachel didn't know what to say. They just looked around in amazement.  
  
"I have got to get a place like this someday." Nick said and Rachel laughed.  
  
"Dude, me too!" she responded. Seth lead the way into the kitchen and they started dishing out the food and sat at the kitchen.  
  
"So Rachel, how long have you been living with Nick and his family?" Ryan asked.  
  
"About a month." She said.  
  
"You were placed with them?" Sandy asked taking a bite of his pizza.  
  
"Not really..." She trailed off and looked at Nick. Sandy knew something was up but didn't push anything. He wanted them to enjoy their visit.  
  
"You guys wanna play playstation?" Seth said excited. Rachel laughed at the look on his face and within seconds everyone was laughing.  
  
"What?" He asked confused.  
  
"Nothing." Ryan and Rachel said at the same time making everyone laugh harder.  
  
"Sure lets go play!" Rachel said and they cleaned up their dishes and went in the den. "You don't have any hockey games?" Rachel asked.  
  
"No...just fighting games." Seth said. Rachel shrugged and sat down. He had 4 controllers so they all took one.  
  
An hour and a bowl of ice cream later they stopped playing the game going on a break.  
  
"My fingers hurt." Rachel said putting down her controller.  
  
"You're just mad cause you suck at fighting games." Nick laughed.  
  
"What I lack in fighting games I make up for in hockey. "She said and grinned.  
  
"That's true." Nick agreed. Rachel had noticed Kirsten every once in a while look in from the kitchen to see if everything was ok and she always had a smile on her face. Ryan defiantly has a good home.  
  
"You guys wanna go talk in the pool house?" Ryan asked.  
  
"Why?" Rachel asked confused. "Wait they have a pool house?" she added quickly. Ryan laughed.  
  
"Yea they do and that's where I am staying." He said. Rachel and Nick both wondered why the hell he would stay out there. Was Ryan not good enough to stay in the house? But once they got out there their minds changed.  
  
"Wow. dude you have like your own apartment here!" Rachel said looking around. He laughed and they all sat on the bed. Ryan and Rachel sat at the head of the bed and Nick and Seth sat on the end.  
  
"So you wanna tell me how you were 'Not really' placed with Nick's family?" Ryan asked.  
  
"Ummm...I donno..If i want to..." She trailed off glancing at Seth. Ryan looked at Seth then back at Rachel.  
  
"Seth is cool he won't say anything." Ryan said. Seth nodded.  
  
"If I did Sir Ryan here would beat the shit out of me." he said. Ryan laughed.  
  
"Damn straight I would." He laughed. "But if you don't wanna say it is ok too." Ryan added. Rachel looked from Ryan to Nick not sure is she wanted to tell the story in front of Seth a kid she just met. But Ryan trusted him and until then, She was the only one he trusted.  
  
"I can leave if you like." Seth said. Rachel shook her head no.  
  
"No no that's ok. I am just thinking is all." She said. Just then they were interrupted by Sandy.  
  
"Hey guys it is getting late." The 4 teens groaned. "Let me finish." He laughed. "I don't normally do this but since Ryan and Rachel haven't seen each other in a long time, Why don't you 2 just spend the night since tomorrow is Sunday." He said.   
  
"Yea dude that's so cool!" Seth cried out and everyone laughed at him.  
  
"You're a dork." Rachel said laughing.  
  
"Yea i know that but ya'll love me anyway." He said and we laughed again.  
  
"True." She said. "Nick call mom and see if it is ok." She said and Nick asked to use the phone and of course Ryan said sure.  
  
"Hey mom...yea i am fine...we are going to stay here tonight.....yea it is cool with their folks...I promise to tell you about it when I get home....thanks mom." Rachel could tell by Nick's face she said yes so she yelled out.  
  
"Thanks mom!" Nick laughed and hung up the phone.  
  
"She said your welcome."  
  
"Ok" Sandy said. "I'll leave you guys to talk about whatever." He said then left. Ryan looked at Rachel and she knew he wanted to know what happened.  
  
"Ok ok I'll tell ya." She said and made her self more comfortable. The 3 boys did the same. "But first Ry can i borrow some sweats to sleep in?" She asked and he nodded and said no problem and got up to get some. He also brought a pair back for Nick.  
  
"I don't know if these will fit you. You are taller then me." Ryan smiled. Nick said thanks and went off to change. He came out a moment later.  
  
'They just barely fit." He laughed. Then Rachel got up went to the bathroom and changed and came back to see Ryan and Seth changed as well. now that they were all comfortable she began.  
  
'Ok...well.." She started to tell her story.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
hehehe ok not the best spot to leave off but I want you to come back for more. oh and if you pay attention to my authors notes sometimes reveals spoilers... you know like the show lol please review! thanks!!! 


	18. Stories and the Pier

I know long time for an update but hey I have midterms to write lol but I took a break and wrote this.... hope you like it. please review!  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Rachel began telling her story... she told Ryan that after they were separated how she was put in one home after another and most were abusive. She told him about the Johnsons and how they treated her. So she left in search for Nick and she had gotten lucky cause he didn't move and his mom and Jim took her in. She didn't tell him about Nicks life cause it wasn't her place. When she finished her story Ryan was looking at her knowingly.  
  
"Wow, you were lucky to find Nick again." Seth said. She looked at him and nodded. She could tell that he didn't know what to say. 'He wasn't in our position.' she thought. He didn't know what it was like to be in the system, be on the run, and to not be wanted. He was lucky.  
  
"So how did you get here?" Rachel asked Ryan. He half smiled and looked down. Then he began to tell his story. He told about A.J and how his mom went back on drugs and drinking. How he was arrested and how his mom threw him out and so on. When he finished the room was silent for a moment.  
  
"So your story is kinda like mine." Rachel said. "We both ended up in good homes. The only difference is that child services doesn't know where I am. Not that they would care at this point." She said. Nick spoke up.   
  
"My turn to tell my story." He said. The other three looked at him.  
  
"You don't have too." Rachel said.  
  
"Nah. you guys were sharing so it is only fair." He said and started to tell Ryan and Seth about his life before Jim. How his dad was always high and drunk. His dad and Rachel's dad knew each other. That was how the two kids met to begin with and since they were in the same boat, they became fast friends. He also told how his dad got his mom in to drinking and drugs and how his father used to beat him up over stupid stuff. Then his dad was arrested on drug charges and sent to jail for a long time. A few days later Rachel's dad was arrested and that was the last time they saw each other. He told how a few months later his mom met Jim and he got her clean and sober. She has been clean for 3 years. But in those few months between his dads arrest and Jim, his mom was still getting high and drunk, she would hit him but never as bad as his dad had.   
  
The room again fell into silence. Ryan and Rachel knew what it was like and understood. Seth on the other hand couldn't grasp it. He didn't get it. They all could tell. The three of them bonded over their abused lives and they kinda sensed that Seth felt like the outsider.  
  
"You ok Seth?" Rachel asked and Seth looked up. He had tears in his eyes.  
  
"Yea...I...I just never knew that Ryan went though all that and to hear what you guys went though too.... I mean how could anyone hurt their own kids like that. It's just....I don't..."  
  
"Seth your rambling." Ryan said and laughed to ease the tension.  
  
"Sorry.' he said.  
  
"Don't be sorry Seth. you never went though it and you are lucky." Nick said and Ryan and Rachel agreed.  
  
"Yea. This is not something you want to experience. Our parents, now with the exception of Nicks mom, weren't meant to have kids. But they did and they treated them badly." Rachel said. "But I think we turned out ok. I mean we aren't in jail." She said looking at Ryan.  
  
"Anymore." he added smiling.   
  
"But if you like, we can beat the shit out of you Seth?" Rachel said laughing. The boys laughed too. And Rachel hit Seth with the pillow and before they knew it they were in a full blown pillow fight. The memories of their past were just that at the moment. The past.  
  
They wound up sitting up to the early hours of the morning talking about everything and anything. Seth no longer felt like an outsider and all four of them became close. At about 3:30am they finally fell asleep. Somehow all 4 of them fit on the pool house bed. Ryan on the end, Rachel next to him, Nick next to her and Seth on the other end. Ryan had his arm around Rachel protectively as he slept. Rachel while sleeping snuggled in to Ryan's body making her feel even safer. They all slept well.  
  
--------  
  
The next morning Sandy had walked into the pool house about 10am to see if the kids were awake. He looked over at the bed to see all 4 sleeping like babies. He wasn't about to wake them so he turned around and went back into the house.  
  
At about noon Rachel stirred and slowly woke up to find that a still sleeping Ryan was hugging her and a small smile on his face. She smiled at the site and brushed a little hair out of his face. She felt movement next to her on the other side and looked over. Seth was awake.  
  
"Hey Seth.' She whispered and he waved.  
  
"I'll be back, nature calls." He whispered back to her. She chuckled a little and watched him head to the bathroom. She looked back at Ryan to see that he too was starting to stir. A few seconds later he opened his blue eyes.  
  
"Hey." She whispered. He smiled.  
  
"Hey." He whispered back. He sat up and she frowned. "What?" He asked.  
  
"You moved." She said and started to laugh. she then sat up and looked at Nick who was still out like a light.  
  
"Where is Seth?" Ryan asked.  
  
"Right here." Seth said coming out of the bathroom and Ryan heard the toilet. he nodded knowingly. Ryan then made his way to the bathroom then Rachel was next. They all got dressed. Rachel Picked up her clothes that she saw were neatly folded and clean.  
  
"What?" She asked.  
  
"I bet my mom came in here and got Rosa to wash them for you guys. She is like that." Seth stated.  
  
"She didn't have to do that. I have worn the same thing twice in a row with out being washed before." She said.  
  
"Try telling Kirsten not to." Ryan laughed. Rachel left to get changed and when she came back Nick was still sleeping.  
  
"Better wake him." Rachel laughed and went over to Nick. "Nick wake up." She said shaking him. She did that a few times before he woke up.  
  
"What?" He asked sleepily looking around. Rachel laughed and Ryan and Seth chuckled.  
  
"Morning, or should I say afternoon sleepyhead." Rachel said. Nick sat up and wiped the sleep for his eyes.  
  
"Hey guys." He said waving to the other two boys. They smiled and waved back.  
  
"What's up for today?" Rachel asked.  
  
"We could go to the pier." Ryan said and Seth nodded.  
  
"Sounds good. let me get dressed." Nick said getting up and grabbing his clothes from yesterday surprised to see them clean.  
  
"Don't ask." Rachel said smiling. Nick shrugged and walked in to the bathroom to get dressed. When he came out they all walked inn to the main house.  
  
"Look they live!" Sandy said as he saw the four teens coming in the house. The four laughed.  
  
"Hungry?" Kirsten asked and they nodded. "Ok well sit down. Rosa made some pancakes." She said and got some plates.  
  
"Thank you for washing our clothes for us Mrs. Cohen, you didn't have to do that." Rachel said pouring a glass of juice.  
  
"It wasn't a problem. Besides it was laundry day." She smiled putting down the plate of pancakes. the four teens dug in to the meal.  
  
"So kids what's the plan for today?" Sandy asked.  
  
"We are going to the pier." Seth said taking a bite of pancake.  
  
"That should be fun." Sandy smiled. Ryan reached over and took a piece of Rachel's pancake.  
  
"Hey! You sneak!" She laughed. "You're gonna get it!" She said looking at him. "Remember I know your spot!" She said with a smirk. Ryan stopped, fork halfway to his mouth and gave the piece back to Rachel. She smiled triumphantly. The other four in the room looked on confused.  
  
"Ryan has a spot?" Seth smirked at him. Ryan glared back.  
  
"Yep." Rachel nodded but didn't say anything else and put the piece of pancake that Ryan just had in her mouth.  
  
"You gonna tell us?" Seth asked. Another glare from Ryan.  
  
"Nope. It is for me to use as blackmail." Rachel said smiling and Ryan relaxed a little knowingn she wouldn't tell. "I know Nicks spot too." She said noticing he was about to pull the same stunt as Ryan just did. Nick pulled back.  
  
"Yea never let her find your spot Seth." Nick said to him.  
  
"What exactly does that mean?" Seth asked. Sandy and Kirsten looked on amused by the whole conversation. Ryan and Nick didn't answer they just looked at each other. Rachel laughed.  
  
"Like I would tell?" They finished their food and headed out to the Pier. Seth had an extra bike for Nick to use and Rachel just hopped on the back spokes of Ryan's bike and held on to his shoulders. When they got to the pier they walked around and looked at different things that were on the carts.  
  
"Hey Ryan." a voice came from behind them and They turned around.  
  
"Oh hey Marissa." He smiled. Summer was standing next to her. "Hi Summer." She just nodded her head.  
  
"Hey Seth." Marissa said and he nodded. Seth and Summer exchanged nods as well.  
  
"Marissa, Summer this is Rachel and Nick." Ryan said introducing them. Marissa shook their hands but Summer just looked on. "Rachel is an old friend of mine." Ryan said and Marissa smiled while Summer looked like she wanted to leave.  
  
"Nice to meet you but we have to get going I just wanted to say hi. My dad is waiting for us." Marissa said and that said their good byes.  
  
"That's the girl that lives next door." Ryan stated and Rachel nodded. She was a bit jealous of Marissa. She was very pretty and a little taller then her. She let the thought go for the moment and enjoyed the time she has with Ryan.  
  
The rest of the day they hung out by the water and Ryan made it look like he was going to toss Rachel in but he decided not to when Rachel reminded him of the 'spot'.  
  
"Rachel we should go back home. Tomorrow is a school day." Nick said. 'And mom might get worried." Rachel frowned she didn't want to leave.  
  
'Don't worry. Now that we know where each other are, we can call each other and hang out on weekends." Ryan said which made Rachel feel a bit better. They went back to the Cohens and Sandy gave Rachel and Nick a ride home. They said good bye to Sandy and Seth.  
  
"Call me this week and we will work something out for next weekend." Ryan said as he walked them to the door.  
  
"Ok. Great." Rachel smiled and hugged him and he went back to the car. She waved to the car and they waved back and drove off.  
  
"This was defiantly a good weekend." Rachel said to Nick as they walked in the house.  
  
----------------------------  
  
Hope you liked it. please review. I took time away from midterms to write this for you lol. more gonna happen in the next chapter.... hehehe... more excitement....stay tuned! 


	19. He is out

A few weeks went by and every weekend Ryan and Rachel hung out. Some times Nick came along sometimes he didn't. Sometimes Seth came along sometimes he didn't. The two had gotten closer since they found each other again. They would talk about everything and nothing or sometimes just sit and watch tv or just sit in silence and that was fine.  
  
One Friday after school Rachel took the bus to the entrance gate of the gated Newport neighborhood. Ryan was waiting by the gate and they walked together back to the Cohen house.  
  
"The Cohens aren't home. They went to some office meeting thing and Seth went to check out the new comics" Ryan said.  
  
"Oh ok. So how was school?" Rachel asked.  
  
"Eh. It was fine." He said and they continued to make small talk on the way back.  
  
As they walked up the drive way they didn't expect what was about to happen next. A man came up from behind them quietly. Rachel turned to her right when she heard a yelp from Ryan. She turned to see that Ryan had an arm around his neck pinning him to the mans body. Then she saw the gun to his head. She gasped. Ryan was struggling to get away until he heard the click of the gun cocking. He stopped struggling.   
  
"Good boy." The man said. Rachel looked up to the mans face.  
  
"D...Dad?" She stumbled. Ryan's mouth opened in shock.  
  
"Hi there sweetheart. Surprised to see me?" He smiled idiotically. She was frozen in place. She didn't know what to do.  
  
"Start walking in to the house." He demanded but she didn't move. He pressed the gun on to Ryan's head. "Do it or your little boyfriend here gets hurt." He said though clenched teeth. She turned and began walking to the house. She turned the door knob but it was locked.  
  
"I...it's...l...locked." she stammered.  
  
"Key boy." He said to Ryan. Ryan fumbled into in pocket and pulled out a key. Rachel slowly took it trying not to meet Ryan's eye's. This was all her fault. If she didn't come here then her dad wouldn't have either. She was wondering why he was out anyway. She opened the door and they walked in.  
  
"Ok, I have been watching you for a few weeks so I know you have been here a few times. Where are the goods!" He demanded.   
  
"I..do...don't know." She said about ready to cry. Her father was still pinning Ryan against him, gun against his temple. She could see Ryan swallow hard.  
  
"Well you better find out before.." He stopped and looked at Ryan. "What's your name?" he asked angrily.  
  
"Ry..Ryan" He stammered. Her father looked back at her.  
  
"You better find out or little Ryan here won't see tomorrow." He said evilly. Rachel's father, John, was big guy about 6'4 and pretty big build. He must have worked out more in prison. Ryan only came up to the top of his chest.   
  
"I really don't know...I n.never really l...looked." Rachel said still fighting tears. John then pushed Ryan forward and turned him around then hit him hard in the face with the butt of the gun. Ryan fell to the ground with a groan.  
  
"NO!" Rachel yelled and John looked up. "I'll go look...please don't hurt him." Rachel pleaded.  
  
"Hurry up! I don't want to be here when they get back." John yelled referring to the Cohens. Rachel took one last look at Ryan who was still on the floor grabbing his head and trying to get his bearings back before running upstairs too find anything to keep her dad from hurting Ryan again.  
  
Once Rachel was upstairs John looked at Ryan on floor and pushed the gun on his head an Ryan froze.  
  
"Don't move just stay there!" He yelled then took the gun away and sat down on the arm of the couch. Ryan looked up at him holding the right side of his face. When he took his hand away he saw blood and he knew that there was probably a huge gash and a big bruise there. John sat there pointing the gun at the teen.  
  
"How..How did you..you get out?" Ryan asked softly not wanting to tick off the deranged man.  
  
"I took a leave of absence." He said glaring at the boy. Ryan knew what that meant, he escaped. Ryan could tell that John was getting impatient waiting for Rachel. "Where the hell is she?" He mumbled. "RACHEL LETS GO!" He yelled  
  
Rachel continued to look around the Cohens bedroom and found some money in a draw and some jewelry. She kept looking to see if she could find money cause she didn't want to take any of the jewelry. She spotted an envelope in the bottom draw it was marked 'money for Seth and Ryan's birthday's.' She opened up and saw close to a grand in there. 'sorry guys' she thought to herself.  
  
"RACHEL LETS GO!" she heard John yelled. Then she heard something fall over. She gasped and ran down stairs. She saw Ryan on the floor this time in front of the couch. He was holding his side. She also saw that a vase had been broken.  
  
"Here!" Rachel yelled handing him the money then going over to help Ryan up. "Are you ok?" she whispered.  
  
"Yea." Ryan grimaced and got to his feet still a bit hunched over. John counted the money.  
  
"That's it? for a place like this?" He said angrily looking at the two teens. He grabbed Rachel's arm and brought her close to him. She looked up at him and tried not to show fear but couldn't help it. "You." He said looking at Ryan. "You live here. Where is all the good shit?" he asked still holding Rachel's upper arm tightly. Ryan didn't answer. "Fine then." He said and hit Rachel the same way he had hit Ryan earlier. She would have fallen back but John still had a tight grip on her arm. She yelped in pain and tears started to fall from her eyes.  
  
"I don't know where anything is!" Ryan said loudly standing up straight ignoring the pain he felt. John didn't like that answer. He threw Rachel on to the couch then he took out a cell phone and both teens wondered how he got it.   
  
"You. Over here." John said pointing the gun from Ryan to the couch where Rachel was sitting. Ryan made his way over slowly and sat down putting a protective arm around Rachel. Rachel flinched and tried to move way but Ryan held on. John then dialed a number on the phone.  
  
"Yea it's me...... No got nothing but 1200 here....it is just the two kids......ok...yea got it....bye" John said flipping off the phone then handed it to Ryan. "I want you to call who ever the owner of this house is and tell him you need 10 grand."  
  
"You think he is just going to give it to me with out knowing why?" Ryan asked calmly.  
  
"You better hope so." He said pointing the gun at him. Ryan dialed Sandy's number.  
  
"Hello." Sandy said from the other end.  
  
"Hi Sandy" Ryan said. His voice betraying him and showing a bit of fear.  
  
"What's wrong Ryan?" Sandy asked concerned.  
  
"I need you to do me a favor." He said seriously.  
  
"Are you in trouble?"  
  
"Kinda. Look I need 10 grand." Ryan stated and he heard Sandy gasp.  
  
"What for?" Sandy asked.  
  
"Please trust me Sandy." Ryan's voice pleading. Rachel whimpered a bit when John put the gun to her head. But it was loud enough for Sandy to hear.  
  
"Is there someone there?" He asked worriedly.  
  
"Yes." Ryan said closing his eyes.  
  
"Did they hurt you?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Rachel with you?"  
  
"Yes." Ryan said as Sandy fired off the questions.  
  
"Hurt?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Ok I'll get it as soon as I can and bring it over. I'll tell Kirsten to pick up Seth. I know what you're thinking, no they won't be with me when I come." Sandy said quickly. Ryan sighed a little with relief. He didn't need to worry about Seth and Kirsten too and he was sure Rachel didn't either.  
  
"Ok. Great." Ryan said eyes still shut tight. One arm around Rachel and the other tightly on the cell phone.  
  
"Be there in an hour. Don't worry."  
  
"Ok.." He said then hung up.  
  
"Well?" John asked impatient.  
  
"He will be here in an hour with the money." Ryan said opening his eyes.  
  
"Okay. We will sit here until he gets here." John said and pulled some duct tape out of his jacket pocket. He taped Ryan's hands together and then his feet. Then he moved on and did the same to Rachel. John then took a seat in a chair next to the couch. Both Rachel and Ryan both held up their bound hands to their face. Both were bleeding and hurting.  
  
"You ok?" Ryan whispered to Rachel. She looked at him and shook her head 'no'.  
  
"This is my fault." She whispered back.  
  
"No it isn't you didn't know." He whispered back.  
  
"Hey you two shut up!" John said loudly and the two teens quieted down. It was going to be a long hour.  
  
----------  
  
how was that? please tell me.... any ideas on where to go? i am open to suggestions! I have a basic idea but not sure how to write it yet lol. so please review! 


	20. The Longest Hour

The hour was the longest of the teenager's lives. John had taunted them by pulling out the cylinder of his gun, spinning it the clicking it back into place. He would point the gun at one of them and then pretend to shoot. Rachel was shaking. She knew what her father could do. Ryan could feel her shaking since their shoulders were touching. He moved his leg over to touch hers to try and comfort her. She looked up at him and he saw the fear in her eyes. He knew that Rachel could see the fear in his even though he tried to hide it. They knew each other to well.  
  
"That guy better get here soon." John said looking at the clock. "He has 20 minutes."  
  
"Sandy will come." Ryan said calmly. John glared at him.  
  
"Did I say you could speak?" John said angrily. It was Ryan's turn; he glared at him though his hair that was ever so slightly covering his eyes. "Tough guy huh?" John said amused.  
  
"Ryan, don't." Rachel whispered to him.  
  
"What? Little shit thinks he could take me on?" John said getting up. He then stood in front of   
  
Ryan and leaned in putting his hand on the armrest and looked at Ryan. After a moment Ryan looked him in the eyes.  
  
"Do. You. Think. You. Can. Take. Me. On?" John said slowly and his voice was steady. Ryan held his gaze for a moment then looked down. "That's what I thought. Punk ass piece of shit." John said standing straight up again. Ryan knew that with his hands and feet bound that he had no shot at a fight. Ryan shook his head.  
  
"What now?" John asked angrily watching Ryan. Ryan didn't answer and just looked at him. "Oh I see!" He said pulling out a knife. Both teens sat back a little more against the couch in a feeble attempt to get away from the weapon. John came over quickly and swiftly cut the tape from Ryan's hands and feet. Ryan looked at Rachel confused and all she could do was shake her head softly. "Let's see if you can fight with out any thing in the way. No Guns, knives or being tied up." John said throwing the knife on the table next to his gun. Ryan sat there on the couch dumbfounded. John got impatient and picked the teen up by his arm and forced him up. John pushed him in to an open part of the living room where furniture wouldn't get in the way. John then backed up and stood a few feet away from a confused Ryan.  
  
"Come on. Hit me." John taunted but Ryan just stood there. "Fine I will be first." John said and walked up to Ryan and took a swing and Ryan ducked and moved. He was just going to play the duck and move game for as long as he could. John came at him again and again Ryan got out of the way. Third shot John wasn't fooled. When Ryan went to weave john caught it and hit him square in the stomach. Ryan hunched over and John instantly pushed him down.  
  
"NO! STOP! PLEASE!" Rachel yelled from the couch and John looked up at her. Ryan took this chance and took johns legs out knocking him to the ground. He landed a good punch to the face before John regained his sense and pushed Ryan off of him. He then straddled Ryan and held him down on the ground. Ryan struggled but John was too heavy. John landed three punches to Ryan's face and a couple to his chest. Ryan tried to block the blows with his arms and hands but it was useless. John pinned Ryan's arms to the ground with one hand and looked at the boys bruised face.  
  
"Had enough?" John asked with a smirk. Ryan didn't answer so John hit him in the face again.  
  
"Yes." Ryan whispered.  
  
"What?" John asked even though he knew what Ryan said.  
  
"Yes I had enough." Ryan said a little louder. John got off of him and Ryan put a hand to his face but before he could get up John kicked him twice in the side. Ryan groaned and coughed.  
  
Rachel turned her head to avoid seeing him get beat up as she did so she saw the door open and Sandy walk in. John hadn't noticed and kicked Ryan again.  
  
"Hey Stop!" Sandy yelled and John looked up at him then rushed to get his gun. He picked it up and went over to Rachel and held the gun to her head as Ryan tried to get air back into his lungs.  
  
"You got the money?" John asked. Sandy nodded. "Come over here slowly and sit down." He said and Sandy did it. Sandy looked over at Ryan quickly and saw he was slowly trying to get up. He then looked back at where John and Rachel were. He could tell Rachel was scared. She had tears going down her face but she wasn't crying hysterically. Just silent tears.  
  
"It is all there. Please leave." Sandy said calmly as John looked over the money. John looked up at him.  
  
"I'll leave when I want!" He said angrily. Ryan had finally crawled to the couch and sat next to Sandy hunched over. Sandy looked at him and raised Ryan's face to meet his. Sandy saw that his eye was already bruised and his nose and lip were bleeding and he spotted the gash from where the gun hit him before. Sandy looked over again at Rachel and noticed she had a similar gash on her head. He also took note that her hands and feet were bound with duct tape.  
  
"Ryan." Ryan looked up at John. He threw him the duct tape. Ryan flinched but caught it. Ryan was confused. "Tie him up." John said pointing to Sandy. Ryan's mouth hung open. John saw his hesitation. "Do it now!" John said again holding the gun to Rachel's head.   
  
"It's ok Ryan." Sandy said calmly and held his hand out for Ryan. Ryan taped them up quietly.   
  
"Feet too." John said and Ryan slid off the couch and tied his feet together. Once he was done he sat back on the couch hunched over. John then went over and bound Ryan up. The weakened teen was to beat up to struggle against him. The three of them watched as John looked over the money to make sure it wasn't fake. And to see if all of it was there. Rachel kept looking down she refused to meet Sandy and Ryan's eyes.  
  
"It is all here." John stated.   
  
"Yea. I said that before. When it comes to my kids and their friends I don't play games." Sandy said a bit annoyed. Sandy still didn't know that John was Rachel's father. John laughed and Sandy was a bit confused. John looked at Rachel.  
  
"What you didn't tell them about me?" John said pretending to be hurt. He knew Ryan knew but he liked to humiliate people. Rachel just looked at him. "Well tell them." He knew that it would humiliate Rachel to tell this man that the person who was holding their adoptive son and now him hostage was her own father. Rachel didn't say any thing so John lifted his gun and cocked it and aimed it at her head. "I said look them in the eye and tell them." He said though clenched teeth. Rachel swallowed. She looked up at Sandy and Ryan.  
  
"He is my father." She said just loud enough for them to hear. Sandy's mouth dropped open and Ryan mouthed to Rachel 'It's ok.' She just looked down.  
  
"How could you do this to your own kid?" Sandy asked dumbfounded.  
  
"I do what I need to get money. But now she will come with me." John stated and both Rachel and Ryan looked at John in shock.  
  
"Why do you need to take her? She didn't do anything!" Ryan said getting protective. He was sitting at the edge of the couch now and he looked like he was ready to pounce on John. John looked at him amused.  
  
"Well I see someone got their strength back." He mused. "I will take her to ensure you don't call the cops."  
  
"We won't call any one. You have your money!" Sandy said. Ryan moved his feet around trying to loosen the tape. It hurt to move anything but he didn't want this mad man to take Rachel with him.  
  
"We won't call anyone dad, I- I promise." Rachel said pleading with her father to let her stay here and not take her with him.  
  
"Take me instead." John and Rachel looked over to the person who said it.  
  
"No Ryan. You can't do that." Rachel said now moving to where she was sitting on the edge of the couch. Ryan was still wiggling his feet around to try and get loose. John caught on to this.  
  
"Hey! You trying to get free?!" John yelled and pointed the gun at Ryan and he froze. "I have had enough of you!" John said and cocked the gun once more.  
  
"NO!" Rachel said and got herself up on her bound feet. John pulled the trigger and Rachel jumped to try and stop him from shooting Ryan.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" Sandy yelled as the gun went off.  
  
----------------------------------------------  
  
dun dun dun.... thanks for the reviews.... keep them coming! i would love to hear what you have to say1!!! hummmmmm what do u think will happen next muhahahaha lol 


	21. The Hospital

Sorry this took so long to update but I went away for spring break.... I hope you like this chapter.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Rachel hit the floor with a bang. She heard Sandy and Ryan yelling. She hoped that Ryan was ok. She heard John say 'oh shit' then she heard him leave the house. Then she blacked out.  
  
Sandy watched as John pulled the trigger. He had covered Ryan instinctively but then he saw Rachel jump in and try and stop John. The gun went off as she fell in front of him. It took a minute to realize that Rachel was hit. She didn't cry out or yell. She just lost consciousness. He then saw John panic, grab the money and run. Sandy looked at Ryan who was in shock.   
  
"Shit." Sandy mumbled and noticed the knife left on the table. He grabbed it and cut himself free then cut Ryan free. Sandy grabbed his phone and called for an ambulance. After the shock wore off he saw Ryan go to Rachel and cut the tape from her. He rolled her on her back and saw she was hit in the upper chest. Ryan gasped and put his hand over the wound to try and stop bleeding. As soon as Sandy got off the phone with 911, he called Kirsten and told her to drive straight to the hospital. With in minutes the paramedics were they're loading Rachel on to a gurney. The also had one there for Ryan and forced him on it. He insisted that he was ok but they still wanted to check him out.   
  
Ryan and Sandy watched as Rachel was loaded into the first ambulance. Oxygen mask and IV already attached to her. She was still breathing which was a good sign. Then Ryan was loaded into the second ambulance. Sandy hopped in Ryan's ambulance. And they rushed off to the hospital.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Once at the hospital sandy watched as both Ryan and Rachel were wheeled in to the ER. He had to stay behind but wasn't left alone for long. Kirsten and Seth came up to him.  
  
"Sandy!" Kristen said and hugged him. Seth followed with a quick hug after his mom let go.  
  
"What happened? How are they?" She asked. Sandy led them in to the waiting room and told them everything that had happened.  
  
"He was her father?" Seth said dumbfounded. Sandy nodded his head.  
  
"I still don't know exactly what happened before Ryan called me either." Sandy said. "But I know Rachel is going to blame herself for this." Sandy said looking at Seth and Kristen sadly.  
  
"Why?" Seth asked. "It wasn't her fault."  
  
"Maybe not. But it was her father so she feels responsible. I saw it in her expression when he made her tell us who he was." Sandy sighed. They were interrupted when the doctor came in.  
  
"I was told you are Ryan's parents?" The doctor said coming up to them. Kristen and Sandy nodded. "Ok well Ryan has some bruised and a cracked rib, he has a bruised kidney and a fractured wrist along with a stitched up gash on the side of his head. He said he got it from being hit with the butt of a gun. It also caused a mild concussion. He also had some bruises and cuts on his face and arms. He should make a full recovery." The doctor stated and the three sighed with relief that Ryan was going to be ok. "Are you also the girl's guardians?" The doctor asked.  
  
"No. She is a friend of Ryan's." Sandy said realizing he never called Nick and his parents.  
  
"Oh I see. I can't discuss her condition with you but we do need to operate but can't do so until we get a parent or guardians consent for a minor. Do you know how do get a hold of her guardians?" The doctor asked and Sandy nodded.  
  
"I will call them right away." Sandy said taking out his cell phone and going outside. He dialed the number Rachel gave to him just incase Ryan was over her house and something happened.  
  
"Hello?" Nick asked picking up the phone.  
  
"Hi Nick. It's Sandy Cohen." He said.  
  
"Hey. Ryan and Rachel aren't here." Nick said thinking that's why he was calling.  
  
"Oh I know that. I'm calling cause I need you and your parents to come to HOAG right now." Sandy said back.  
  
"What happened?" Nick said worried.  
  
"Ryan and Rachel were hurt. I will explain when you guys get here." Sandy said urgency in his voice.  
  
"Ok we will be there in about 30 minutes." Nick said and hung up. Sandy hoped they would get here soon.  
  
----------------  
  
Nick hung up the phone and ran out back to get his mom.  
  
"Mom! We have to go to the hospital now!" Nick said urgently. Jane looked up confused.  
  
"Why?" She asked.  
  
"Rachel and Ryan were hurt and they need us at HOAG." He stated and with out another word she grabbed her keys and her and Nick got in the car and rushed to the hospital. Jane would call Jim at the hospital.  
  
-------------------------------  
  
Sandy walked back in to the waiting room and over to Seth and Kristen.  
  
"They are on their way." Sandy stated and then he remembered that he didn't ask the doctor when they could see Ryan. "Did the doctor say when we could see Ryan?"   
  
"He said in a few minutes. They want to move him in to a room and out of the ER." Kristen stated.  
  
"I wish we knew how Rachel is." Seth said suddenly.  
  
"Me too." Sandy said. A few minutes later the doctor came in and said it was ok for them to see Ryan. He lead them up to his room then left them alone.  
  
"Hey Ryan. How ya feeling?" Sandy asked and they gathered around Ryan's bed.  
  
"I've been better. How's Rachel?" Ryan asked. Sandy and Kristen looked at each other.  
  
"They won't tell us since we aren't her legal guardians." Sandy said. "But Nick and his folks are on their way here right now." Sandy finished. Ryan put his head back and looked at the ceiling.  
  
"Did the cops catch him?" Ryan asked after a few moments of silence.  
  
"No. Not yet." Sandy said softly. "But they will." He added to try and ease everyone's mind including his own but he knew and Ryan knew until he was caught, the threat was still out there. "Ryan can you tell me what happened before you called me?" Ryan looked at him and sighed. He was going to have to tell eventually.  
  
"We were walking up the driveway just talking when he came up from behind me and grabbed me. He pulled me back against his body and I struggled to get away at first until I heard the click of the gun." Ryan started and the others waited for him to continue. "Rachel looked at him and said 'dad?' which surprised me. Then he made me give her the key to get in the house. He asked where the good stuff was and told her to go look for it. She refused at first but then he hit me." Ryan said pointing to the bandage on his head "Then Rachel said she would if he left me alone. He pushed me to the ground, pointed the gun at me and told me to stay there. I guess Rachel was taking to long cause he got mad and with out warning he dragged me up to my feet hit me again and threw me down to the ground again." Ryan said and looked around the room. He saw Kirsten holding he mouth in shock, tears threatening to fall and Seth looked terrified. Sandy just watched him with furrowed eyebrows. Looking at that almost made Ryan chuckle a little. The eyebrows always made him laugh a little but he held the chuckle back. "I broke your vase." Ryan said out of the blue.  
  
"What?" Kirsten asked confused.  
  
"When he pushed me, I fell into the vase and broke it. I'm sorry." Ryan said.  
  
"Don't worry about that sweetheart. It is just a vase. It can be replaced." Kirsten said smiling a little. Just like Ryan to worry about something like that.  
  
"What else happened?' Sandy asked knowing that more happened after that.   
  
"Rachel came down with some money she found and hoped it would be enough to get rid of him. It wasn't so he told me to call you. Then he tied us up. I guess he got bored after a while and he roughed me up a bit. Then you came." Ryan said looking at Sandy. Sandy knew there was more to that last part but didn't push it.  
  
"I will be right back. I want to be there when Rachel's family gets here. Fill them in." Sandy said and Ryan nodded. Sandy left the room and went out to the front of the hospital. After a few minutes of waiting, Nick and Jane came running up to the front of the hospital.  
  
"Hey Sandy." Nick said. "This is my mom."  
  
"Nice to meet you but there is no time to talk. Rachel needs surgery but they need your consent first." Sandy said leading them into the hospital.  
  
"Oh my God! What happened?" Jane asked as they waked to the desk.  
  
"She was shot." Sandy said and they both gasped. They reached the desk and the nurse paged the doctor over. With in two minutes the doctor came up to them.  
  
"Hi. Your Rachel's mother?" The doctor asked and with out hesitation Jane answered.  
  
"Yes. How is she?" She asked worried.  
  
"Well she was shot in the upper left chest, which cause a lung to collapse. We need to perform surgery to fix it and we need your consent." Jane interrupted.  
  
"Of course go ahead fix it!" She said urgently. The doctor told the nurse to call down to the O.R. to prepare Rachel for surgery.  
  
"She also has a gash on her head that was fixed but it caused a mild concussion. The surgery should take about two to three hours." The doctor finished. Jane, Nick, and Sandy looked at the doctor for a few moments before he excused himself to prepare of the surgery. Jane and Nick looked at Sandy.  
  
"How did this happen?" Jane asked.   
  
"Let's go sit in the waiting room and I will tell you everything." Sandy said and led the two into the waiting room.  
  
"I need to call Jim." Jane said before sandy started. Sandy handed Jane the phone and Jane called up Jim and he said he would be right over. Once she hung up, Sandy told her the whole story.  
  
"But I thought he was in jail!" Nick exclaimed.  
  
"He escaped. The police are out looking for him now." Sandy stated. Jane was silent. Not really sure of what to say. It was going to be a long few hours.   
  
"We should go talk to Ryan. He must be wondering what happened to her." Nick said.  
  
"Yea. he is. The doctors wouldn't tell us anything since we weren't her guardians." Sandy said. "Come on. I will take you to see him." He said. They got up and walked towards Ryan's room.  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
I know a bad place to leave off....lol but I have to think about what to write next....again sorry for the delay lol....please review!!! 


	22. Everyone Waits

After John left the house, he jumped in to a pile of bushes in a yard a few houses down and watched. He cursed to himself. This had gone all wrong. He hadn't planned on shooting anyone but that Ryan kid was pissing him off. He wasn't even going to shoot him just shoot near him to shut the kid up. But Rachel had to jump in and he shot her. Now he is wanted for escaping, attempted murder, robbery, assault and who knows what else.  
  
"Damn kid! She is always causing trouble!" He whispered to himself. He watched as two ambulances and four cop cars pulled up to the house and he watched. He saw as Rachel, who he noted was unconscious, being hurried in to the first ambulance. Another stretcher followed with the boy on it. He and the man went in the second ambulance. He watched as the ambulances took off with a cop car behind them. The other officers were collecting evidence.   
  
John then got up and hurried to the car he parked around the corner and started to follow them to the hospital. John was not thinking straight. He didn't think that Sandy and Ryan had already told the cops who had did this to them. All John was thinking was in order not to be caught he would have to get rid of all three of them.  
  
Once they had pulled in to the hospital, John parked his car in the back of the parking lot so as not to be seen. He noticed that there was a woman and another boy waiting as they unloaded the ambulances. The man, Sandy yea that's his name, didn't seem to see them at first and rushed into the hospital next to Ryan's stretcher. The woman and boy followed them in.  
  
"Damn, two more people to deal with." John whispered to himself. "I am going to have to think about this." John still didn't think any one knew that he was to blame for what happened. He was in his own delusional world. 'How am I gonna get in?' he thought.  
  
"A HA!" He said aloud and headed to the costume shop.  
  
------------------------  
  
Jane and Nick walked in to Ryan's room. They said hello to Kirsten and Seth and nick went up to Ryan.  
  
"Hey. How ya feelin?" Nick said as the clasped hands like boys do.  
  
"Been better. Any word on Rachel?" Ryan asked quickly changing the subject. Nick looked at his mom and she just nodded.  
  
"Well she was shot in the upper chest" Nick started. " It made part of her lung collapse. She is going into surgery now. We will know in a couple of hours how she is doing. She also had a mild concussion like you from the blow to the head." Nick said and Ryan put his head back. He couldn't believe this. Just when it seemed like their lives were getting back on track something had to come and mess it up. Ryan knew that Rachel may not make it. She saved his life and he would have to live with the guilt of knowing it should have been him. Ryan hoped that Rachel would be ok. She had to be.  
  
--------------------------------  
  
"Ryan! Ryan where are you?" She called. She walked around the house looking for him. "Ryan, this isn't funny where are you!?" She yelled again. She spotted the Cohen's sitting at the kitchen table looking somber.  
  
"Seth what's wrong?" She asked confused. Seth looked at her coldly.   
  
"It's your fault." He said angrily. She was confused. Why was he so angry with her and what was her fault?  
  
"What? What is my fault?" She asked him ad he looked at the empty chair next to him. "Where's Ryan?" She asked getting scared.  
  
"He's dead and it is all your fault!" Seth yelled at her. She looked to Sandy and Kirsten confused and they just looked at her and like Seth they were also angry.  
  
"Dead? How?" She asked.  
  
"He was your father. He shot him. It was all your fault!" Seth yelled again.  
  
"No...it can't be....there is no way..." She stammered.  
  
"It is your fault Rachel! I lost my brother because of you!!" Seth yelled. Rachel started to cry.  
  
"No Ryan! RYAN....... RYAN!" She yelled and then suddenly the Cohen's were gone. She was in a dark room alone.  
  
--------------  
  
"Ryan...Ryan" Rachel whispered in to the oxygen mask. The nurse looked up then went to get the doctor. The doctor hurried in.  
  
"She just started whispering his name." The nurse said.  
  
"She is starting to come too." The doctor said opening her eyes to check her pupils. Rachel was out of surgery for the past 3 hours. The doctor had told her family and the Cohen's that Rachel had come though the surgery but they almost lost her once. Her heart had stopped for about 30 seconds but they got her back and she was stable and still unconscious in recovery. But hopefully she could join Ryan in his room soon. The next 24 hours were crucial since there was still a chance she could slip into a coma. Nick, Jane, Seth, Sandy and Kirsten all had been in to see her. Nick was the only one of those five in there when Rachel started to call out in her sleep.  
  
"So does that mean she is going to be ok?" Nick asked the doctor hope in his voice. The doctor looked at him.  
  
"It is a good sign but we have to wait until she fully wakes up. She is still unconscious but talking in her sleep can indicate she is trying to wake herself up.   
  
"No Ryan.....Seth....no.." Rachel whispered again.  
  
"She is having a bad dream." The doctor noted. Nick wanted to say 'DUH' but held back.  
  
"Can you wake her up from it?" Nick asked instead.  
  
"No. She has to bring herself out of it. But by the looks of it she will probably wake up soon." The doctor said then made some notes. "I'll check in again in about an hour and if she is still stable I will move her inn with Ryan." He said then leaving the room. The nurse finished what she was doing then left as well. Nick went to the side of the bed. Rachel had been tossing a bit in reaction to the dream.  
  
"Rachel. Come on and wake up. Show us your ok." Nick pleaded trying to get her to wake up. Rachel stopped moving and was still again like she was a few minutes earlier. She was back in a deep sleep. "Damn it." Nick whispered.  
  
The hour went by and Rachel didn't make another sound. The doctor said it was ok to move her into Ryan's room. Ryan was wake and everyone was in Ryan's room when Rachel was brought in. Ryan had his bed up in the near sitting position so he was able to get a good look at her when she came in. He was shocked to see her so pale and lifeless. It scared him. They got her settled and the doctor rambled on about checking back in later. Ryan wasn't paying to much attention. He just sat there and looked at the oxygen mask that was over her face and the IV and some other tube in her arm.   
  
"Ryan...hey Ryan." Seth said waving a hand in front of Ryan's face.  
  
"Huh?" Ryan said finally snapping out of it. "Oh sorry." He mumbled.  
  
"Dude you ok? You were like that for 10 minutes." Seth said and Ryan looked to see 5 worried faces around him.   
  
"Uh...yea I'm fine....Just thinking....sorry." He said blushing a little bit.  
  
"She will be ok." Nick said. "She's a fighter."  
  
"Yea. I know she is." Ryan whispered knowing all of what she and they had been though in the past. Nick knew it too. There was an awkward silence. Sandy then broke it.  
  
"Ok well visiting hours are over. So why don't some of us go home and get some sleep. Nick, Jane, you are welcome to stay at our house since it isn't far from here and you won't have to drive all the way back. We can take turns staying with the kids." Sandy said.  
  
"Thank you Sandy. That's really nice of you." Jane said with a slight smile.  
  
"I'll stay first. The rest of you go back to the house shower and get some rest." Sandy said and everyone said good bye to Ryan and Rachel even though she wasn't awake yet, they were all convinced she could hear them. sandy then took a seat on the chair next to Ryan's bed.  
  
"You should get some sleep kid." He said to Ryan.  
  
"I want to be awake when she wakes up." Ryan said looking back at Rachel.  
  
"I promise to wake you up if any thing happens." Sandy said with a slight smile. He saw Ryan was fighting to stay awake.  
  
"You swear?" He asked closing his eyes.  
  
"I swear." Sandy said back. Ryan was already asleep. Sandy smiled a bit and looked at how young both Ryan and Rachel looked. They had been though so much already and they haven't even hit their 18th birthday yet. He picked up a magazine and began to read it by the light o the nightstand.  
  
------------------  
  
"This is perfect." John said to himself. He entered the hospital through a door he noticed that was hardly used, in green scrubs. Once inside he put on the cap and mask he got with the costume. He then set off to find out what rooms the kids were in.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
ooooooooo what's gonna happen????? huh huh huh.....well review and if I get reviews I will tell ya what's gonna happen...muhahahahahahahahaha 


	23. More trouble

John walked though the halls like he belonged there. He had to find out what rooms those kids were in. Rachel always caused trouble but once he gets done she won't be doing much of anything. John smiled at the thought of not having to worry about her any more. Ok so getting rid of that other kid and that Sandy guy wasn't in the plan but shit happens. He went up to the nurses station to find the list of patients and rooms. The nurse looked up at him. She looked at him weird. He could tell she didn't recognize him.   
  
"Excuse me. I need to see your identification." She stated.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry" He looked at her name tag. "Nancy but I left it in my locker." He said hoping that the doctors had lockers. From what he saw on TV, they did.  
  
"I suggest you go and get it because you can't walk around here with no ID." She said. The phone rang and she picked it up.  
  
"I'll go get it right now." John said and watched her pick up the phone. He glanced at the room list. '205' John thought to himself then walked in that direction.  
  
------  
  
Sandy had dozed off reading his magazine. Rachel was still out cold and Ryan had been asleep for about an hour. Since he hasn't gotten a lot of rest the past 48 hours it was easy for Sandy to doze off.   
  
Sandy suddenly jerked awake. Something wasn't right and he could feel it. He got up and checked on Ryan and when he saw that he was ok he went over and checked on Rachel. No change with her either. He looked out in the hall way but saw nothing. He went back and sat down in the chair. Something didn't feel right and he didn't like it.  
  
-------  
  
John got to the second floor and worked his way around until he found 205. He peered in the open door slightly and saw Sandy looking back and forth between Ryan and Rachel. He smiled. 'Perfect all three in one place' he thought to himself. He then confidently walked in to the room.  
  
"Hello Doctor." Sandy said to the man who just walked in.  
  
"Hello." He said closing the door.  
  
"Checking their vital signs?" Sandy asked and then the man he thought was a doctor pulled out a gun. He then lowered his mask. Sandy gasped. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I need to finish the job. I can't have people knowing who I am." John said.  
  
"I hate to tell you this but the police already know who to look for." Sandy spat angrily.  
  
"No they don't. And after I kill the three of you they never will." John said just as angry. Sandy immediately thought of Ryan and Rachel. He knew he had to protect them.  
  
"Look" Sandy said calmly, "If you kill us then your will go to jail for three counts of murder not just for robbery. You will spend the rest of your life in jail," Sandy tried to reason with the deranged man.  
  
"I am not planning on getting caught." John said back with a coy half smile. John started to advance toward Rachel's bed. Sandy who was already standing got in between him and Rachel.  
  
"Don't do this. Leave the kids alone." He said quietly. John looked at him annoyed.  
  
"She is my kid. I brought her in to this world and I can take her out of it." John said looking Sandy dead in the eyes. Sandy was shaken from what the man in front of him had just said. John didn't feel guilt or remorse or any kind of emotion. To him it was easy to pull that trigger and end a life. Not just any life but the life of his own child. His own flesh and blood! Sandy felt and anger come over him that he never felt before and attacked the man that was now only a foot in front of him.   
  
John was surprised by Sandy's attack and they both fell to the floor. The gun falling out of Johns hand in the process. Each man struggling for the upper hand. The noise of the two men fighting brought Ryan out of his sleep. Ryan looked over to see Sandy on top of another man. Sandy's body shifted and Ryan saw the other man's face. He picked up his call button in hopes that someone would respond. He then got out of his bed ignoring the pain in his chest from his ribs and went over to Rachel's bed. Ripping his IV out in the process causing a trickle of blood to make it's way down his arm. She still wasn't awake. He looked back at the two men fighting then looked to his left and saw a gun lying on the ground he made his way over to grab it but his body wasn't cooperating and moving slower then normal. John was able to get Sandy off of him and grab the gun just before Ryan was able to get to it.  
  
"I don't think so." John said standing up. Ryan looked over at Sandy and saw he was holding his head. He then looked back at John. By then a nurse had opened the door and saw what was going on. Before John could stop her she ran down the hall to get help.  
  
"SHIT!" he yelled. Sandy had stood up. There was an announcement for security to go to room 205 and John swiftly moved over to Ryan putting a gun to his head. "Sit down there now." John said to Sandy pointing to the chair. Sandy did what he was told not wanting to upset the man more. Once seated John left Ryan to close the door. He knew the cops would be here soon. He couldn't believe his plans had been screwed up again. Now he couldn't kill them. He needed them as hostages if he had any chance of getting out.  
  
Ryan heard a noise to his right and looked over slightly. He didn't want to alert John. Ryan saw Rachel was starting to stir.  
  
"No...don't" She said barely above a whisper. She was still dreaming. John heard her and went over to her bed.  
  
"Leave her alone!" Ryan said moving to the other side of the bed.  
  
"Or what?" John said back tauntingly.   
  
"Ryan." Sandy said and Ryan looked at him. Sandy shook his head slightly telling Ryan not to piss off the other man. Ryan understood but didn't like it. He looked back at John who just smiled. He reminded him of A.J. and that was definitely bad. His thoughts were interrupted when Rachel moaned again. Ryan looked at her and saw she was coming to. Her eyes slowly opened.  
  
--------  
  
Rachel was having the same dream again. That Seth and the Cohen's were blaming her for Ryan's death but this time she heard Ryan's voice.  
  
"Leave her alone!" He said and then she felt some pain in her chest. She slowly began to realize everything was a dream and she was waking up. Her eyes started to open but she squinted against the light above her bed. She realized she was in the hospital. She saw Ryan first and her happiness that he wasn't dead only lasted a brief second.  
  
"Nice of you to join us." She knew that voice. It was her father. She looked over and saw him standing over her on the other side. She involuntarily began to panic. Even though there was an oxygen mask on her, she found it hard to breathe.  
  
-----------------------------------  
  
ok I stopped there cause honestly I am not sure what to write next lol... I have an idea but not sure how to put it in to words..... so review and here is your chance to help me out...have an idea? tell me what it is...maybe I can use it and give you credit for your help in the process. THANKS! 


	24. John's Choices

Ryan saw Rachel begin to panic. He held her hand and called out her name. She slowly looked over at him. He took his other hand brushed it through her hair to try and calm her. He kept saying it was ok and eventually she got her breath back.  
  
"Well, now that we are all back to normal" John spat glaring at Rachel "I can try to figure out how to get out of this." He finished angrily. The sirens were fast approaching and John heard security's scramble to make the rest of the floor safe. John began to pace back and forth holding the gun in his right hand and tapping it on his left.  
  
Ryan continued to brush Rachel's hair with his hand to keep her calm. He glanced up at John who looked lost in thought. He then looked to Sandy who hadn't moved for fear that John would get trigger happy. Sandy shrugged at him not sure on what to do.  
  
John went over to the window and saw a bunch of police cars pull up and officers storming into the hospital.  
  
"Shit shit shit." He stated and scratched the back of his neck. He looked around at the three other people in the room. Just then the room phone rang. "You." He said pointing to Ryan. "Answer it." He stated and Ryan left Rachel to pick it up.  
  
"Hello?" He asked trying to show he wasn't afraid.  
  
"This is room 205 correct?" Came a male voice.  
  
"Yes." Ryan stated.  
  
"This is Officer Richardson. How many people are in the room with you?" he asked  
  
"Three." Ryan stated back.  
  
"How many have a gun?" Richardson asked knowing that the teenager might only be able to give one word answers.  
  
"One." He stated. he was looking at John who was getting agitated.  
  
"Can you put him on the phone for me son?"  
  
"Sure." he took the phone from his ear. "He wants to talk to you." He said calmly to John. John walked over and took the phone from Ryan, giving him a glare as he did so. Ryan moved back over to Rachel. She just looked at him scared. She kept remembering her dream. Ryan was going to die and it would be her fault.  
  
"It will be ok." He whispered to her before turning back to watch John.  
  
"My demands?" He said in to the phone. John hadn't thought of demands. But since they brought it up he might as well get something out of this. "Yea I want 100 grand for these three in here. I also want to be able to get out of here with no problems." He stated in to the phone. Sandy watched knowing that the police wouldn't meet the demands but would try and make it sound like they would. He hoped they would be ok. No matter what he had to protect the kids. John hung up the phone. He took a seat on Ryan's bed and sat back still tapping his gun.  
  
Ryan was again holding Rachel's hand and he kept glancing from her to John. He didn't want to be taken by surprise. Rachel noticed a trail of blood down Ryan's arm and realized that he had ripped his IV out. That meant Ryan must have been checked in to the hospital too. He should be resting. She felt incredibly guilty. Her thoughts were interrupted by a searing pain in her chest. She moaned slightly in pain which got the attention of Ryan and Sandy. John just looked at her then looked back at his gun uncaring. Sandy begun to stand to go over to the two teens but John stopped him.  
  
"Don't move." He said pointing the gun at Sandy. Sandy slid back in to the seat. Ryan had his full attention on Rachel.  
  
"Are you ok?" He asked softly, clearly worried. She looked at him and her eyes showed she was in pain but she nodded to him.  
  
"Yes." She said barely above a whisper. Ryan didn't believe her. He could tell that she was having trouble breathing. She suddenly lost consciousness.  
  
"Rachel?" Ryan said trying to wake her back up. "Rachel!" He said a bit louder but she didn't wake up. "Some thing is wrong." Ryan said turning to look at Sandy. Sandy saw how scared Ryan looked. Something Ryan never showed.  
  
"We have to get her a doctor." Sandy said calmly to John.  
  
"Why? I don't care if she dies." John said indifferently. Ryan couldn't take it anymore and snapped. He moved the two steps separating his and Rachel's bed.  
  
"You son of a bitch!" He yelled and got in a quick punch to John's head before John grabbed Ryan's arm and threw him to the ground. Sandy was now up and making his way over to protect Ryan.  
  
"I am so sick of you!" John yelled kicking Ryan in the stomach. "Little shit always getting in my way!" He yelled again kicking him again then pointing the gun at him.  
  
"Wait!" Sandy yelled now standing next to Ryan "If you kill any of us the police won't hold their deal." This got John's attention. Ryan looked up at John from the floor. "That includes Rachel. She needs to see a doctor. If she dies, you won't get anything." Sandy finished.   
  
"Damn it!" John cursed. "Fine. You keep that punk away from me or next time I will kill him!" he said pointing gat Ryan. Sandy went over and helped Ryan up and set him back on his bed. Ryan held his arms around his midsection and glared at John.  
  
"We need to get a doctor in here to look at Rachel." Sandy stated calmly. John paced back and forth trying to weigh his choices. He wanted her out of his hair for good so her dying would be ideal but if she dies then he would get nothing and jail time. He sighed in frustration and picked up the phone.  
  
"Ok look" he said in to the phone. "I need a doctor up here to check on the girl. Only one doctor and no funny business or I kill one of them." John then listened to whoever was on the other end then hung up t he phone. "They are sending a doctor up." He said angrily to Sandy and Ryan. They waited a few minutes and they heard a knock on the door. John jumped and before Sandy could react John grabbed Ryan off the bed and held him against his chest and holding a gun to his head. Ryan was beginning to get use to this position.  
  
"Who is it?" John yelled at the door.  
  
"Doctor Wagner." Came the reply.  
  
"Open the door slowly and keep your hands where I can see them." John said and the doctor did as he was told and walked in. "Any funny business I will shoot him." He said clutching Ryan and pressing the gun hard against his head. The doctor nodded and walked over to Rachel. He began to look her over and checked all the machines. Ryan watched the doctor intently. He ignored the deranged man holding him. His concern was for Rachel.  
  
Sandy looked back and forth between Ryan and Rachel. He hoped Ryan's concern for Rachel wouldn't cloud his judgment again. For a minute Sandy thought Ryan was going to shot when he attacked John. Sandy was lucky to get the man to calm down. He didn't like the way the doctor was looking at Rachel. Concern was all over his face.  
  
"Well" the doctor said softly so not to startle John, "Do to the excitement, stress was caused on her damaged lung. It is collapsing again. She needs surgery." The doctor said keeping his eyes on Sandy because if he looked at the other man holding that innocent boy, he was going to loose it. Sandy looked at John. Was he going to let her go into surgery? The man wanted his own child dead.  
  
"Will she live with out it?" John asked. For the first time Dr. Wagner looked over at him. He cringed as he saw a battered Ryan struggling to stay some what standing as John held him up, gun to his head. He took a breath.  
  
"Not for very long. A few hours." The doctor stated. He saw the boys face go pale and he felt bad. He looked to Sandy and he didn't know what to do.  
  
"Well then I guess the police will have to hurry. You go down and tell the police that she will die in a few hours if I don't get what I want quick." John told the doctor. The doctor looked sadly at Sandy and Ryan before he left the room. John pushed Ryan away from him. Ryan stumbled and hit the floor. Sandy was right there to help him back up.  
  
"Don't piss him off and just sit on the bed. I know how hard that is for you to do but just do it." Sandy said in a whisper as he helped Ryan up. Ryan nodded and did as Sandy said. He was to weak to argue and he was more worried about Rachel. She might die and there was nothing he could do.  
  
----------------  
  
ok this writers block is killing me! sorry it took so long for this chapter. I am preparing to grad from college with my masters and I found out I was 4 credits short so I have to take a 6 week class after this semester just so I can get my diploma by August..... sigh.... it has been hectic. So I will try and get the next chapter up sooner. Like I said I am open to ideas lol so please review :) 


	25. John's Revolations

Ryan and Sandy kept an eye on John. In the few minutes that had passed since the doctor left John had settled down and was now leaning against the wall. The phone suddenly rang and the three men jumped. John went over and picked up the phone that was between the two beds.  
  
"What?" He said angrily into the phone. Ryan and Sandy watched him intently. "Ok.....yea.... that's what I said." He said into the phone. Ryan wanted to get up and check on Rachel but he really didn't want to piss John off. He didn't think his body could handle it. Her condition hadn't changed. She hadn't woken back up. Ryan was scared he was going to loose her. He was brought out of his thoughts when John slammed down the phone.  
  
"I'm not going to get what I want." He said eerily calm. He then slowly looked up at Sandy and Ryan.  
  
"What do you mean?" Sandy said surprisingly calm. 'Shit. Now he is going to freak out and hurt or kill someone' Sandy thought to himself.  
  
"They say they are getting me the money but I can tell they aren't." John said and turned around to face Rachel in bed. He pointed his gun at her.  
  
"No don't please." Ryan said. He was trying to make it come out strong but it came out in more of a begging tone. John just looked at the boy and smirked. He looked so pathetic. This was going to be great. Kill Rachel and watch the pain on the boys' face. Ryan was sitting on the edge of the bed facing John. "Please. Don't hurt her." Ryan said again letting his fear show through. He cursed himself for letting the fear show but right now he just wanted her to be ok.  
  
"Can't we talk about this?" Sandy said and John looked from Ryan to Sandy.  
  
"There is nothing to talk about." John said. "Either way I am going back to jail. I might as well get rid of excess baggage." Ryan took this distraction as an opportunity and jumped off the bed, put his shoulder down and rammed into John's legs. The man was knocked over.   
  
The gun went off.  
  
With in seconds police had stormed in the room. They had been waiting out of site on the floor. The gunshot drew them into the room. Ryan was fighting with John for only a few seconds, but it felt like hours, before the police had a hold of John and helped Ryan up and asked if he was ok. Ryan wasn't sure. He was in shock. He turned to find Sandy and gasped.  
  
"Sandy!" He yelled. Sandy looked over at him weakly.  
  
"I'll be ok Ryan." Sandy said and winced ad medics were checking the bullet wound in his stomach. Everything was happening so quickly. The police storming in, the doctors following, and Rachel being taken out to surgery. Ryan was trying to grasp everything that was going on but he wasn't comprehending anything. He watched as Sandy was taken out of the room as well. The medics helped him back into his bed and laid him down. They were talking to him but he couldn't respond.  
  
"He is going into shock. Let's get him down to the ER and get some x-rays. Looks like he has been roughed up some more." A doctor said and they wheeled him out of the room. Exhaustion and shock got the better of him and Ryan closed his eyes and fell asleep.  
  
-----  
  
When Ryan woke up again he found he was back in a hospital room.  
  
"Hey." He heard a voice and turned towards it. It was Seth.  
  
"Hey." Ryan was surprised how soft his voice came out.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Seth asked worry evident on his face.   
  
"I'm ok.' He said then remembered the past events. "How's Sandy? Rachel?" He asked worried. Seth looked at him. Ryan got a little worried.  
  
"Dad is going to be ok. The bullet went through his side so they didn't have to dig around for it. Mom is in his room now." Seth stated.  
  
"And Rachel?" Ryan asked.  
  
"I don't know. I wasn't told anything. Last I heard she was still in surgery. But I am sure once Nick and his mom find out, they will come tell you." Seth finished. Ryan sighed.   
  
"How long is Sandy going to be hospitalized?" Ryan asked.  
  
"They said about two days but then he has to stay home and rest for a couple of weeks. The docs also said you will be released about the same time as him." Seth added. Ryan nodded. There was a knock on the door. Ryan and Seth looked over to see Nick standing there. Ryan sat up a little in his bed.  
  
"Come in." Ryan said and Nick walked over. "How is she?"  
  
"They said the next 24 hours are critical. They got her stable and her lung healing. She still isn't up yet." Nick explained. Ryan closed his eyes. He was trying to hide that he was scared. "Ryan." Nick said and he opened his eyes again. "I'm scared too." Nick said which told Ryan that it was ok to be scared. He looked at Seth. He nodded. He was scared too. Under any other circumstance Ryan would have thought this funny. Three strong guys were scared but there was a good reason to be this time. Now it was a waiting game. Ryan hoped they would win.  
  
-----------  
  
Ok I know short chappy but I want to see where I am gonna go with this..... Thank you to rachel00 and Devon for giving me ideas....as you saw I combined the suggestions that I got. 


	26. Feelings

Two days had passed. The doctors determined that both Sandy and Ryan could go home but they would both need to rest for the next two weeks. Rachel still didn't wake up and Ryan wanted to go and see her. He walked in to her room with one arm around his mid section. He was still in some pain but he knew it wouldn't last long. He saw Jane and Nick sitting on chairs next to her bed. Nick waved him in and Jane gave him a quiet hello and he tried to smile back at her.   
  
Rachel was in stable condition now but she had a tube to help her breathe.   
  
"No changes I guess." Ryan said quietly knowing that there wasn't any change but was trying to break the silence. Nick shook his head no.  
  
"Going home today?" Nick asked and Ryan nodded and went over and stood by Rachel's bed.   
  
"What did the doctor's say?" Ryan asked.  
  
"That she should wake up with in the next two days. But he also said the sooner the better because there is a risk of her slipping into a coma." Jane said sadly. Ryan closed his eyes and wondered why the hell all this crap had to happen to them? Both their lives were turning around for the better and this had to happen. Ryan wanted to hit something.  
  
"You ok?" Ryan opened his eyes when he heard Nick's question.  
  
"Yea, just thinking." He said and looked over at Rachel's sleeping form. An announcement came over the loud speaker that visiting hours were over and since Ryan wasn't family it meant he had to leave her. He frowned.  
  
"Don't worry. We will call you if anything happens." Nick said.  
  
"Thanks." Ryan said and started to head towards the door. "I'll see you later." He said quietly and left. He met up with Kirsten, Seth and Sandy in the hallway. Sandy was in a wheelchair and there was another one right there for Ryan.  
  
"Hospital policy." Kirsten smiled a little at the look on Ryan's face when he first saw the chair. There was a nurse behind Sandy's and Kirsten stood behind his.  
  
"Dude take the free ride man! How often will they be giving you all this attention?" Seth said urging his foster brother to get in the chair. Ryan smiled a little. Leave it up to Seth to break the tension. Ryan sighed not really up for a fight so he sat down.   
  
"Don't worry kid. she will be ok." Sandy said as they were being wheeled to the entrance referring to Rachel.  
  
"I hope you're right." Ryan said. They were helped in to the car and they drove home.  
  
----  
  
When they pulled into the driveway Ryan slowly got out of the car to go help Sandy.  
  
"I got him Ryan. You worry about not hurting yourself further." Kirsten said and Ryan moved back so Kirsten could get to Sandy. Seth came around and walked next to Ryan.  
  
"Want help?" Seth asked but Ryan shook his head no. Seth shrugged "Well if you need me I am here."  
  
"Thanks Seth." Ryan whispered. They made their way to the front door and walked in to the house. Ryan winced at what he saw. The house hadn't been touched since the whole thing happened. The vase he broke was still in pieces on the floor and there was still blood on the carpet from when Rachel had been shot.  
  
"Oh my God, I thought this had been cleaned up!" Kirsten said in shock. "I had called people in.." She trailed off and looked at Ryan, who she could tell was holding back tears.  
  
"Woah." Was all Seth could say. This was the first time he and his mom had been in the house but he did hear his mom on the phone telling someone to make sure it was cleaned up.  
  
"I'm going to go rest in the pool house." Ryan whispered and walked as fast as he could through the house and out the back. By the time he got out back he was out of breath and in pain. But he needed to get out of that space as fast as he could. He couldn't bare looking at the living room like that. Hell he probably would never be able to look at again, at least until he knew that Rachel was going to be ok and coming home too.   
  
He slowly made his way to the pool house. Once inside he laid on the bed and knowing he was alone he let his emotions go. He cried. It wasn't loud hysterical crying but every minute or so a sob was let out. The prospect of loosing one of his best friends was to much for him but that wasn't the only part that scared him. He realized he felt a little more the friendship for her as well.  
  
------  
  
ok I know short chapter by my standards but I am still developing how this is going to go. I also thought this would be a great place to leave off lol! But never fear cause I added the next chapter....so keep reading lol. 


	27. Dreams

Rachel fought with her nightmares. She was being told that Ryan was gone and it was her fault but the dreams wouldn't stop with that. Then she was told Nick was dead and that was her fault as well. The Cohen's and the Carter's were both yelling at her telling her it was her fault and that she was supposed to be the one that was killed. She tried to move but nothing was working.   
  
"No.....they aren't gone....it can't be!" She yelled at the figures in her dream. They kept yelling at her and then they disappeared and suddenly she was in a cemetery. She was in front of a tombstone. She gasped.  
  
"Ryan Atwood - July 25 1987 - June 26 2004 - Beloved Son, Brother, and Friend" Rachel read out loud.  
  
"Told you it was true!" Seth said appearing next to her. She looked at him to see his face was full of hate and anger. She backed up only to hit something. She looked down at it to see it was another tombstone.  
  
"No..no...no." She kept repeating. "Nickolas Carter - January 28 1987 - June 26 2004 He will be missed."  
  
"Look at what you have done! I took you in and now my boy is dead!" Rachel turned to see Jane also very angry.   
  
"I didn't mean...." She started but then couldn't speak. She started to feel pain that she couldn't feel before.  
  
-----  
  
Jane was sitting in the chair next to Rachel's bed. It was close to 11pm and Nick had gone to the cafeteria to get some thing to eat. She was half reading a magazine when Rachel moaned. she looked up and she saw her face was contorted in fear and sadness. Jane stood up and looked at Rachel unsure of what was happening so she hit the call button for a nurse. with in a couple of minutes a nurse was in the room.  
  
"I don't know what is going on. She just started to moan." Jane said to the nurse.  
  
"She is beginning to regain consciousness." The nurse smiled. It was a good sign. She checked Rachel's vital signs. "She feels pain. I can't give her anything right now for it because we want her to wake up to tell us what hurts." The nurse explained to Jane. "Once she wakes up, we can take the tube out and see how well she can breathe on her own. Once we know that she can, then we can find out what hurts and go from there." She looked at Jane. "Talk to her. It will probably get her to wake up quicker." Jane nodded and looked back at Rachel who she saw was probably fighting a pretty bad dream.  
  
"Rachel. Wake up honey. It is time to come back to us." Jane said and Rachel's eyes began to open.  
  
-----  
  
Rachel all of a sudden felt a pain in her chest. She was wondering what the hell was going on. She was scared. She heard a voice. It sounded like Jane but she wasn't angry anymore.  
  
"Rachel. Wake up honey. It is time to come back to us." she said and Rachel realized her eyes were closed so she began to open them. The light hurt her eyes and so she only opened them a little bit. She realized there was something in her throat and panicked. She figured they were trying to get her back for Ryan and Nick.  
  
"Calm down Rachel." Jane said trying to sooth her. "You have a tube to help you breathe" she tried to explain. Rachel was confused. She had no idea w hat was going on.  
  
"I'm going to get the doctor to take that tube out for you. Just be calm ok?" Rachel looked over to see the nurse for the first time. The nurse smiled then left the room. Rachel then looked fearfully back at Jane.  
  
"It's going to be ok honey." Jane said putting her hand on Rachel's head and soothing here hair back. Rachel flinched but either Jane didn't notice or ignored it. The doctor arrived with in moments.  
  
"Ok Rachel we are going to take this out of you. I need you on the count of three to cough for me." He said and Rachel nodded. "One, two, three." And Rachel coughed and the tube slid out. Her throat hurt like hell though and she winced. The nurse gave her some ice to help with the pain and Rachel took it. She tried to talk.  
  
"Nick." She said in a very low and raspy voice.  
  
"What?" Jane asked.  
  
"It is going to be hard for here to talk for a while. Rachel try and rest your throat." The doctor said but Rachel shook her head no.  
  
"Nick....ok?" She asked a little bit louder ignoring the pain. Jane looked at her.  
  
"He will be back any minute." She said.  
  
"Not dead?" She asked trying to get her point accross with out talking to much.  
  
"No sweetie. Nick is fine." That's when Jane realized why Rachel looked so scared. "In your dream did you dream that he w as dead?" She asked softly her hand still on Rachel's head. Rachel looked at her and nodded. "Oh honey, Nick is just fine. In fact here he comes now." She said and Nick walked into t he room with a hand full of food. He looked up and realized that Rachel was awake. His face lit up.  
  
"Hey!" He said smiling. "You're back!" He said happily. Rachel smiled. "Boy am I glad you are awake. We have missed you."   
  
"Her throat is a little sore so she may not be able to talk much." The doctor spoke up. Nick nodded and the doctor began to talk to Rachel. "Are you in pain?" He asked and Rachel nodded. "Where?" He asked.  
  
"Chest." Rachel whispered.  
  
"Ok. You will be sore there for a while. We will give you something now for it but we will start to give you less and less because we don't want to mask the injuries. We need to know what hurts and how bad. Now does anything else hurt besides your throat and chest?" He asked and Rachel shook her head no. "Ok that's good. I'll be back to check on you in a little bit." He said and left.  
  
Rachel looked at Nick and a small smile formed. Then she remembered Ryan and she got scared again.   
  
"What's the matter?" Nick asked worried.  
  
"Ryan." She said. "Ok?" She asked and Nick looked at her.   
  
"Ryan is home." He stated.  
  
"He is good?" She asked again wanting to make sure.  
  
"Yea. The doctors sent him home earlier today. He will be fine." Nick said and Rachel sighed with relief. It was all a bad dream.  
  
"Did you dream that he was gone also?" Jane asked her and she nodded. "Oh you poor thing. No wonder you were so scared." Jane said.  
  
"What?" Nick asked.  
  
"Rachel woke up pretty scared. After the tube was taken out she asked if you were ok. She thought you were killed. She must have had some pretty bad nightmares if she thought both you and Ryan were gone." She explained. Nick looked at Rachel and she nodded  
  
"Well we are fine and John is in jail." Nick said. "We are all ok. In fact I told Ryan I would call him as soon as you woke up" He said. "I'll be right back ok?" He said and she nodded.  
  
"I think the medicine is kicking in because her eyes are closing." Jane said.  
  
"Still Ryan needs to know that she will be ok." Nick said and Jane nodded. when they looked back at Rachel she was asleep again but t his time it was peaceful.  
  
-----  
  
Ok I made up dated for birthdays lol...but how did you like it?????? review! thanks! 


	28. Relief

Ryan had fallen asleep. Between trying to recover, his new revelations about Rachel and breaking down and finally letting himself cry, he was so exhausted that he basically cried himself to sleep. He was woken up by his phone ringing. He picked up the phone before it could ring for a second time.  
  
"Hello?" He said worried. He glanced at his clock quickly and saw that it was eleven ten. He had been asleep for about four hours.  
  
"Hey Ryan." Nick said and Ryan heard that his voice sounded happy but wasn't sure.  
  
"Hey, what's wrong Nick?" Ryan asked now wide awake.  
  
"I wanted to call and tell you that Rachel woke up." Nick said happily.  
  
"She did? Is she ok?" Ryan asked.  
  
"Yea, I mean she still has some pain in her chest but the doctor said that should go away soon." Nick stated.  
  
"I'm coming right down." Ryan said starting to getting up.  
  
"No Ry. You can't. Visiting hours aren't until tomorrow at 9am and since you aren't family they won't let you up here at this time of night. Besides she is sleeping again because of the meds." Nick explained to Ryan. Ryan sighed.  
  
"Ok but I will be t here at 9am sharp." Ryan stated. Nick laughed.  
  
"Ok but you need to rest too. I know it is late but I knew you would want to know." Nick said.  
  
"Thanks man. For keeping your word." Ryan said suddenly realizing how tired he still was. The pain making itself knowing in his side again.  
  
"No prob Ryan. Just take care ok."   
  
"I will. See you later." Ryan said and hung up the phone. He laid back down and smiled despite the pain he was feeling. 'She's gonna be ok.' he thought to himself. His stomach growled at him. He realized he hadn't eaten anything since the hospital breakfast. He slowly got up and made his way to the kitchen. The lights were out in the kitchen so he figured everyone had gone to bed. He closed the door behind him quietly, turned on the lights and headed to the fridge. He glanced over in to the living room and saw it had been cleaned up. Which he was happy about. He opened the door to the fridge.  
  
"Hungry?" Ryan jumped and slammed the door shut.  
  
"Kirsten!" Ryan exclaimed.  
  
"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you." She said realizing she shouldn't have snuck up on the boy like that.   
  
"It's ok." Ryan relaxed a little when he realized he wasn't in danger.  
  
"Want me to make you something?" She asked him.  
  
"It is ok I got it." Ryan stated opening the refrigerator door again pulling out some lunch meat and then grabbed the bread to make a sandwich. he stopped when he realized Kirsten was still watching him. "What?" Ryan asked softly. Kirsten shook her head a little.  
  
"Nothing....It's just....have you been crying?" Kirsten asked. Ryan's eyes went wide. He had forgot that he didn't clean himself up. She must have seen the tear streaks left behind.  
  
"I...um..." Ryan stumbled. "Nick just called." He said changing the subject. Kirsten saw how uncomfortable he was and let him change the subject for now.  
  
"OH?" she asked.  
  
"Yea. Rachel woke up and the doctor said she should be ok soon." Ryan said went to the sink to wipe his face off a little before going back to his sandwich.  
  
"That's great!" Kirsten said smiling. "I am so glad to hear that." She went over and stood next to him. She placed a hand gently on his back. He flinched but ever so slightly. "How are you feeling?" She asked softly.  
  
"I'm fine." He said even though he felt pain his side and a little in his chest. Kirsten knew he was lying. She went over to the cabinet and pulled out the pain pills the doctor gave her for Ryan.  
  
"Here take these." She said handing him two pills. "It will stop the pain." He looked at her hand and really wanted to take the pills but he didn't want to show he was weak. She put the pills on the counter sensing his apprehension. "Need a ride to the hospital tomorrow morning?" She asked knowing that's where he would be going.  
  
"Nah, I can take my bike." Ryan said and took a bit of his sandwich.  
  
"Oh no you don't mister. I will be waiting to take you in the morning. Got it?" Kirsten said in a no nonsense tone. Ryan knew not to mess with it and nodded. "Good. Get some rest after you eat. Night Ryan." She said and quickly kissed him on the head taking them both by surprise.  
  
"Um I will Kirsten.....Thanks again." Ryan said with a slight half smile unsure of what to do. Kirsten smiled back and left the room. but just when she was out of Ryan's site she looked back to see that he was taking the pain pills. She smiled slightly. She knew she was beginning to read Ryan's feelings like he had been living there his whole life.   
  
Once Kirsten left the room he took the pills. He then ate the rest of his sandwich. He was a little surprised when Kirsten had kissed his head but he didn't hate it. He knew she cared about him and it made him feel good. He took the rest of his sandwich and went back to the pool house. He got himself cleaned up then headed to bed. This time it was easier to fall asleep.  
  
----  
  
Ryan was up by 8 the next morning. He had slept pretty well the night before and he noticed the pain had subsided some what. He got dressed in jeans, tank top and a new button down shirt, which he left open, that Kirsten bought for him. He headed into the kitchen to see Kirsten already up and dressed.  
  
"Coffee?" She asked handing him a cup.  
  
"Thanks." He smiled.  
  
"How are you feeling?" She asked. he looked at her.  
  
"Better." He said and she saw that he meant it.  
  
"Good. Why don't we get some breakfast then head over to the hospital." She said.  
  
"Sounds good." He said and she grabbed her keys and they headed out.  
  
----  
  
9am. Ryan and Kirsten were at the hospital heading up to Rachel's room. They had stopped at a diner and had a good breakfast. Ryan had told Kristen about how him and Rachel became friends. She finally understood why she meant so much to him.  
  
They reached the door and even though it was half way open they knocked. Ryan smiled when he saw Rachel look over at him. He also saw Nick and Jane in the room as well.  
  
"Ryan! Come in!' she said her voice still a little bit sore. She spotted Kirsten and still felt guilty about what happened to Ryan and her home. "Hi Mrs. Cohen."  
  
"Hi sweetie. Call me Kirsten. I'm happy to see you again." She smiled warmly.  
  
"How is Mr. Cohen? I head what happened." Rachel said looking down.  
  
"He is going to be fine. He is home sleeping. "Kirsten said. "How about you. How are you feeling?"  
  
"I'm ok." Rachel said and Ryan smiled a little. He had rubbed off on her a bit.  
  
"The doctor said she can be released tomorrow if everything stays the same." Nick said.  
  
"That's great." Ryan said looking from Nick to Rachel.  
  
"Nick, lets go get something to eat." Jane said to her son. Nick nodded knowing what his mom was getting at.  
  
"Yea. I need some coffee." Kirsten said. Ryan knew she didn't because they just had some at the diner and back at thee house but he wasn't going to object. It gave him and Rachel some time alone since all that shit went down. Once they left the room Ryan went closer to the bed.  
  
"How are you really feeling?" Ryan asked smiling knowingly at Rachel. Rachel gave a half smile back. He knew her to well.  
  
"I'm in some pain but it isn't as bad." she said. "How about you?"   
  
"Same. The pain isn't that bad. I've had worse." Ryan stated. "But seriously, I'm doing better." Ryan said knowing he couldn't lie to her if he tried. Rachel looked down and they were silent for a moment before Ryan knew there was something wrong. "What's the matter?" he asked  
  
"It's my fault." She said not looking up.  
  
"What is?" Ryan asked taking her hand. She still didn't look up.   
  
"You could have died and it would have been my fault." She said softly. Ryan sat down in the chair next to her. He took his free hand and moved the chair closer to the bed.  
  
"It isn't your fault." Ryan said taking his hand and gently getting Rachel to look at him. He saw tears in her eyes, threatening to spill over at any minute.  
  
"But he is my father. I should have stopped him." She said tears now flowing down her face. Ryan, besides Nick, has been the only one to see her cry.  
  
"He was nuts, you couldn't have stopped him." Ryan said softly. All he wanted to do was scoop her up and keep her safe and he told himself once she isn't connected to the IV's and heart monitors, that was just what he was going to do.   
  
"Sandy was shot, you were beat up...I mean...I.." She trailed off trying not to cry hysterically because it would hurt her chest more then it already did.  
  
"It's not your fault." Ryan repeated. He wanted to tell her that her father wanted to kill her but he thought the better of it. That was one thing she didn't need to know. He may have been a son of a bitch but he was still her father.  
  
Rachel looked at Ryan. He was so sincere, so caring, so loving and no one besides her and the Cohen's gave him the chance to show it. Everyone else labeled him bad news because of his last name. Ryan grabbed a tissue and wiped the tears from her face.  
  
"It isn't your fault and I will do anything to show you that." Ryan said looking at Rachel's slightly red eyes. Rachel felt something change towards Ryan. Her feelings changed towards him and not for the worse either.

------

I know...long time no update... more is on the way....always open to suggestions...please review...i live for them...thanks!!!


	29. Going Home

ok i know... long time no update... but stuff happens loll....and i am having writers block... plase read and review! thanks :)

--------------------------------------------------

Ryan stayed with Rachel until the visiting hours were over. Seth had come by, with a bruised arm but laughed and lifted their sprits by telling every one how he had went to get up that morning but was all tangled up in his blankets and fell out of his bed. Ryan responded with "dork". Nick brought cards and they sat and played some hands. 8pm rolled around and Ryan, Seth and Kirsten had come back to pick up the two boys. Both Rachel and Ryan were saddened by it.  
  
"I'll be back first thing." Ryan said.  
  
"You better be." Rachel smiled.  
  
"Oh Ry you better be careful she may hurt you." Seth said teasing his friend.  
  
"I don't doubt it." Ryan laughed. They said their good byes then the nurse came in with some medication. It didn't take to long for it to take it's effect. One minute she was talking to Jane and Nick and the next she was out cold.  
  
----  
  
The next morning, as if it was clock work, Ryan was there to visit Rachel. The door to her room was open and he and Kirsten walked in.  
  
"Hey." Ryan said smiling.  
  
"Hey there." Rachel said smiling back.  
  
"Where's Nick and his mom?" He asked noticing they weren't in the room.  
  
"They went to get some clothes. The doctor said I can go home." She stated smiling.  
  
"That's great!" Ryan exclaimed.  
  
"Yea. I have to rest but at least I get out of here." She said and Ryan nodded. It was silent for a moment until Rachel spoke up.  
  
"Do you think Mr. Cohen would be my lawyer?" She asked.  
  
"Lawyer for what sweetie?" Kirsten asked.  
  
"The trial for my father is coming up and since I am going to be on the prosecuting side I need a lawyer." She stated. Ryan and Kirsten had forgotten about the trial. They were more worried about getting three people well.  
  
"Well since he was also involved he can't be prosecuting. But we do have a lawyer that will be representing all three of you." Kirsten said.  
  
"Yea that makes sense." Rachel said. "I don't have money to pay this lawyer though." Rachel said worriedly.   
  
"Don't worry. It was already taken care of." Kirsten smiled.  
  
"But I..." Rachel was cut off by Kirsten.  
  
"It is taken care of." Kirsten said still smiling.  
  
"Don't argue with her...you won't win." Ryan laughed. Kirsten laughed and Rachel couldn't help but smile.  
  
"Ok but I will find away to pay you back." She stated.  
  
-------  
  
A few hours later Rachel was back home at the Carter's. Jane had gotten her settled the couch so she could watch some television. Jane had been running around getting things that she thought Rachel would need, she brought her food and drinks and kept making sure she was warm enough even though it was close to summer time. Nick and Rachel tried not to laugh.  
  
"Really Jane, I'm ok." Rachel smiled. "Why don't you go and relax yourself."  
  
"Yea mom. I think we will be ok." Nick said. "Ryan and Seth should be here in a little while too so she will have plenty of people to help her if she needs it." Rachel looked at him. She didn't like having people go out of their way for her. She can help herself.  
  
"I just want to make sure you're alright." Jane said smiling a bit.  
  
"Thanks....For everything." Rachel stated softly. "But you should go lay down. I bet it has been a long week for you as well." Jane nodded and suddenly looked tired.  
  
"Ok but if you need me just give a yell. Jim should be home soon." She added and headed towards her room.  
  
"You don't need to wait here and worry about me. I know you haven't seen your other friends in a while...." Rachel started but Nick cut her off.  
  
"Rae... don't try and do this yourself. Yes at one point I had to learn how to take care of myself and I know you and Ryan had to fend for yourself many times but....dude you have a place and people who care about you now." Nick said sincerely. Rachel looked at him through still tired eyes.  
  
"Dude?" She said smiling weakly. Nick laughed.   
  
"Get some sleep." Nick said and Rachel didn't object. As soon as she closed her eyes, she was out cold.  
  
------  
  
Ryan and Seth arrived at the Carter's about an hour after Rachel had fallen asleep. Nick invited them in and told them Rachel was asleep. Ryan said not too wake her up and they would just wait for her too wake up. So the three boy's sat and talked and watched television.  
  
They were in the middle of a movie when they heard some moaning. They looked over to see Rachel tossing a little and talking a little. Her face was pained.  
  
"No...stop..." She moaned quietly. The boys got up and went over to her. "Noo...Ryan...dad ....no...." She said again softly. Ryan tried to wake her up.  
  
"Rachel. Wake up." He said gently touching her shoulder. She tried to get away from his hands.  
  
"No...please...no....ryan..." She whimpered. Ryan shook her a little harder.  
  
"Rae...wake up." He said again and she continued to struggle against him. She slowly began to open her eyes still trying to get away from the hands holding on to her. "It's ok...it is just us." Ryan said and Rachel became more aware. Seth and Nick looked at each other, worry on their faces.  
  
"Ryan?" Rachel questioned softly. "I thought you...." She trailed off and spotted Nick. "Nick."   
  
"Yea I'm here... are you ok?" He asked kneeling next to Ryan and looking at Rachel.  
  
"Yea....I think.." She said a bit confused. Her nightmare felt so real. She looked at Ryan and Nick and grabbed one with each arm and pulled them in to a hug. "Promise me you guys won't leave me." She whispered in their ears. After a moment both boys pulled back and looked at her.  
  
"I'll always bee here for you." Ryan said seriously.  
  
"Me too. Always." Nick stated. Seth stood back in an awkward silence. He felt a bit left out. She smiled at the two boys.  
  
"I'm a bit thirsty." She said after a moment of silence.  
  
"I'll get you something." Nick said getting up.  
  
"Yea I will help." Seth said following Nick. That was the first time Rachel realized Seth was there.  
  
"You want to tell me what your dream was about?" Ryan asked sitting on the edge of the couch.  
  
"Not really." Rachel said looking towards the television that was still on. Ryan knew he wouldn't let this go but he didn't want to push her now. He would let it be so she could get some rest.

---------------------

bad place to leave off i know but still working out where this is gonna go...suggestions welcome....hehe please review :)


	30. Hockey Kisses

Few days passed and things were slowly getting back to normal. If their lives were ever 'normal'. Rachel was now up and moving around but still not up to full speed. She was now able to walk around the house with out anyone having to follow her or help her. She hated asking for help with things like bathroom issues. She tried not to go a lot so she wouldn't have to ask but now she was able to do it on her own and was happy about that.

Ryan and Seth basically lived at the Carter's while Rachel was healing. She told them to be with Sandy but they told her that Sandy and Kirsten told them to get out cause Sandy needed sleep more, and that Rachel needed more of the company. Plus they have more to talk with Rachel about then they do with Sandy. You know the generation gap.

Rachel continued to have bad dreams. But luckily no one was around or awake when she woke up from them. She didn't want to deal with them worrying. It was enough the boys had saw it the other day. The concern on their faces. Especially Ryan's. When she didn't tell him she could see he was hurt and worried. They have always told each other everything but she didn't want to relive the dreams while she was awake.

At the moment they were sitting in the living room playing the hockey game that Nick had bought her. Seth brought over his old controllers so all four of them could play at once. Right now she and Ryan were really beating Seth and Nick.

"I thought you said you were good at these games?" Nick said to Seth after Rachel scored a goal.

"No, I'm at good at the ninja not the sports." Seth stated matter-o-factly. Rachel and Ryan looked at each other and back at Seth and laughed. Nick cracked a smile.

"Ok there is a minute left and we are down by three. Come on Cohen." Nick chuckled.

"Forget it. You guys are done. Seth sucks at these games." Ryan said as his player checked Seth's. "That had to hurt." He said as Seth's guy hit the ground. Rachel laughed. The buzzer sounded.

"Game over!" Rachel said triumphantly and put her arm around Ryan's shoulder. "We are an unbeatable combo." She smiled at the other two boys.

"That you are." Nick said smiling. "Seth, help me get some drinks." Nick said getting up.

"Sure." Seth said and followed Nick out of the room.

"Well at least we can beat Seth at one video game." Rachel smiled.

"Yea, that's quite a feat." He smiled then his face turned serious.

"What's the matter Ryan?" Rachel asked seeing the boy's change in mood. He turned his body to face her and taking her hand.

"Can you tell me what those dreams are about?" Ryan asked. Rachel looked down suddenly finding her pants very interesting. "It may help to tell someone about them, make them go away too." Rachel looked at Ryan's hand in hers. She wanted to tell him. They were interrupted by a crash in the kitchen.

"Smooth move Seth." They heard Nick laugh. "You clean it up now."

"Lets go outside and get some air." Ryan said and both got up. "Guys we are going out front for a minute." Ryan said to the other two boys which Nick responded with an 'Ok I wanted to challenge Seth at that ninja game after he cleans up anyway.' Seth responded but it was muffled. The two then headed out the door. They sat down on the steps and Rachel looked around. The sun was out and she could see some kids playing baseball with a stick and a tennis ball. You learn to use what you got around here. Rachel felt Ryan put his hand on her back. She looked at him and sighed.

"I...I just relive the whole thing...in my dreams." She started. "Only it is a different outcome." Ryan kept his arm around her and squeezed her shoulder to tell her to go on. "My...my father would..." She stopped. the next word seemed to be hard for her to get out. "He would shoot at you...and it would kill you." She started to sob a little. Talking about it made it all seem real but also made her feel better at the same time. "I couldn't stop it. I would yell and try to run but I couldn't move." She said.

"It is just a dream. I am here and I'm fine." Ryan said in a soothing voice. "I'm not going anywhere." She looked at him and she had some tears that were still rolling down her cheeks. Their eyes met. She saw he meant it. She leaned towards him and he did the same. He put his hand on the back of her neck and their lips met. After a few moments they pulled apart and both broke into a half smile. Ryan was blushing a bit and Rachel knew it took a lot to get him to blush. She smiled more at him and took his hand. She kissed him again on the cheek and pulled him into a hug which he happily returned. She looked up and saw Nick looking out the living room window and he was smiling then moved away. She was a bit embarrassed but that passed.

"We should go back inside before Seth drops something else." Rachel said and Ryan laughed.

"Yea we should." He got up and helped her up and they walked back into the house where Seth was staring at the tv with his tongue out trying to beat a warrior of some kind. She and Ryan sat on the couch and Rachel looked at Nick. He winked at her and she smiled and looked at Ryan.

'Yea things are defiantly going to get better from here' she thought to herself then curled up next to Ryan and put her head on his shoulder. He looked down at her and put his arm around her. They watched as Seth beat the warrior guy and yell in happiness, clueless to what was going on.

"How bout a movie now? I got Miracle. That hockey movie on the USA Olympic team from 1980." Nick said. "I thought it would make ya feel better." He said to Rachel and she smiled at him. Seth settled himself in a chair and the movie started. She glanced up at Ryan who smiled as well and kissed her forehead. Things were defiantly going to be great.

----------------------------------------------------

OMG! The end of the story! cries I never thought it would come to an end. Will there be a sequel? I don't yet. Sorry for all you Ryan/Marissa lovers but this was my story and I wanted to be with Ryan hehe. so ok review! Tell me what you think!

Edit on 8/7/05

I got a review about the spelling. Spell check doesn't catch everything and I know I'm not the best speller in the world. I got my masters in TV PRODUCTION...you know, working on a set..not writing papers... so I really don't need the best spelling in the world... this is just a hobby for me that I do when the desire hits. It is for fun and most of my readers know that. But thanks for the input. :)


End file.
